Tower of Babel
by LaughingSenselessly
Summary: Without his knowledge, Batman's contingency plans against the league are put into affect. In the aftermath, how will Diana react when she realizes Batman made a plot to destroy her? And can they ever rebuild their relationship, maybe into something more? (This summary sucks. Just give it a try! :P) Set in the DCAU. BMWW. Cover art credit: Jasric
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is set in the DCAU, around JLU in the timeline. I draw inspiration with the plot from the movie Justice League: Doom, the JL: Tower of Babel graphic novel, and theamerican91 's awesome fanfiction Heart of Darkness (see my Favourites) which briefly alludes to Tower of Babel. **

**The POVs are a little messed up, sometimes I might add a thought of someone else just because. All right. Here we go.**

**Bruce POV**

"Bruce Wayne!"

The drunken yell was heard around half the ballroom as peoples' heads turned to see who was screeching the name of the notorious playboy.

The billionaire in question put his hands up in what he obviously hoped was a calming gesture. "I swear, I kissed her on the _cheek_, Randi," he said, his own voice not quite as slurred, but enough so that it was clear he wasn't sober.

The brunette bombshell he was arguing with slapped him across the face so hard he stumbled back a step. "My name is _Mandi_!" she hissed. "And you're a douche!"

She stormed away, leaving Bruce to rub his jaw and laugh for the entertainment of the people around him. "If I called her Sandi, you think she would have taken it better?" he grinned. The small crowd that had been watching the scene smiled measuredly at the joke and after a moment or two, realized the confrontation was over and turned away.

But never for long, Bruce thought grimly to himself as he snatched a glass of champagne off a passing waiter's tray. Eyes were _always_ on him. He just had to make sure he controlled what they looked for. And he did.

As he pretended to take a sip of alcohol, he scanned the room, calculating. He would have to be seen with at least two more women tonight; perhaps if things were getting too dry, get 'caught' with another in a compromising position.

"Brucey! It's been too long!"

Bruce turned, plastering on his biggest grin. A group of society hags stood in front of him, rich women in their late-forties who ran in the same circles as he did.

"Mrs. Vivian Faxfair," he addressed the woman that had called to him. "It's been too long." He allowed his eyes to travel over her body, quick enough that it wasn't extremely obvious but slow enough that he knew she would catch it. Then he met her eyes and turned up the wattage on his sexy grin. Audible sighs were heard. The woman beside her fanned herself in a very unsubtle way.

"It's Mrs. Vivian _Walters_ now, actually," Vivian said, batting her eyes. "I got married again."

Bruce feigned surprise, even though he already knew this. "Really?" he allowed a small measure of disappointment into his voice. "Tied yourself down again?"

Vivian sauntered forward and put her hand on his arm. "Sometimes I get loose," she breathed into his ear.

Bruce opened his mouth to respond when he heard another voice.

"Hello, Mr. Wayne."

And this was a voice he actually wanted to hear.

He remained rooted where he was, staring into Vivian's eyes for just a moment; just a moment that he needed to compose himself before he faced her.

He turned, so fast in his apparent drunken exuberance that he stumbled slightly. "Wonder Woman!"

Diana stood before him, wearing a beautiful pale pink gown that didn't reveal much but skimmed over her curves. Her hair was clipped in a very simple bun at the nape of her neck. Classy. Elegant, Bruce noted with approval. She took his breath away with her confidence, her grace, and with her smile.

Unfortunately, Bruce couldn't give her or show her those kinds of compliments. Instead, he allowed his eyes to peruse her body as well, even slower than to Mrs. Vivian _Walters_. His gaze lingered especially around her generous bust before she- _ahem, ahem_- coughed.

He looked up, into her beautiful ocean blue eyes. "Sorry," he said, delivering a rakish grin that indicated that this wasn't the case at all. Vivian's friend who had fanned herself earlier harrumphed in the background.

Diana, to her credit, wasn't shaken up at all by his tactics. "Hello, Mr. Wayne," she said again, formally. "I hear that you are one of the major benefactors and hosts of this charity ball. I wanted to thank you for supporting it."

"Not at all," Bruce said. "I love charity. I love Metropolis. And I love museums," he blabbed, spreading his hand to indicate their current venue. "So it all adds up to a night I wouldn't want to miss. Are you a speaker here tonight?"

She nodded. "Yes."

Bruce boldly stepped closer. "We danced once in Paris, you know."

Diana nodded again, but her eyes asked him: _What game are you playing?_.

He held out his arm. "I seem to remember we were rudely interrupted that time. Care to finish that dance?"

She hesitated a moment, and Bruce saw her eyes glance at the society women beside him before returning his gaze once again. "Why not, for the generous philanthropist," she said graciously.

The more boisterous side of Bruce's personality did a mental fist-pump. God, he thought with self-disgust, the Flash was rubbing off on him.

Diana POV

A new song started up; it wasn't extremely slow but it wasn't very fast either. Bruce gathered her into his arms and they began to dance.

When she'd first seen him, he took her breath away, even though she'd seen him in a tux in the tabloids and in the flesh several times before. The fact was, he was a really beautiful man.

Of course, she would never tell him that in those words. It might hurt his precious masculine pride. She smiled at that.

He interrupted her reverie when he asked in a voice a few pitches lower than Bruce Wayne's, "Have you seen anything yet?"

"No."

"Keep on the lookout."

Diana rolled her eyes. Yes, the Justice League was at this function for more than one reason, as they'd gotten a tip that the newest rendition of the Injustice Gang planned to steal an extremely precious ancient Hindu relic from the museum, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy herself.

She wrapped her arms at a respectable distance around his neck, his silky dark hair tickling her hand. She itched so badly to run her fingers through it."I was. But then I went over to you, because I felt sorry for you."

He arched an eyebrow, barely able, she noted with satisfaction, to keep his genuine amusement off his face. "Sorry for me?"

"Yes," she replied seriously. "As those _vultures"_ she put a little extra venom than necessary- "descended upon you, I remembered that it is my duty to defend those who cannot defend themselves."

Bruce laughed then. A real laugh. It wasn't loud; in fact Diana would be surprised if anyone else in the near vicinity heard (except for perhaps Clark, who was also here under the guise of reporting). But it was real. Warm flutters erupted in her stomach, and she felt a silly sense of accomplishment for forcing the true Bruce to make an appearance.

Sort of pathetic of her, she mused. But still.

"I could have handled them," he said, his ice-blue eyes a little warmer than they had been before.

"Well, you weren't doing a very good job," she retorted. "They were hanging all over you. One would think you were a set of monkey bars."

Bruce chuckled again, quietly; and then delivered an extremely cliche line with only a hint of irony. "Do I detect a note of jealousy?"

Yes, actually. As silly and catty as it was, Diana had felt a twinge when she had heard what that woman whispered into Bruce's ear. Even knowing he would never take her up on it. She felt... jealous. Perhaps, a little bit possessive.

If her Amazon sisters knew about it, she thought glumly, there wouldn't be a need for her to be exiled; she'd be laughed right off the island.

When she didn't answer him for a minute or two, his eyes shuttered closed again; she'd missed her window. She felt a sense of regret. "The song is almost over," he said. "And I've acted out of character too long. Someone might be noticing." He leaned forward as he said this and skimmed his nose up the curve of her neck. "I'm being too forward. You should push me away now."

Diana heard the double meaning in that last sentence. She didn't want to do it. Doing it would give Bruce just another reason to hate himself.

She half-closed her eyes when his lips brushed her cheek. "But I'm enjoying it too much."

His lips stilled for a millisecond.

Diana suddenly felt his hand roughly grasp her backside.

It was more from shock and instinct than anything else when she bodily threw him away from her, him crashing into a nearby table of entrees, right at the exact time that a scream was heard on the other side of the ballroom.

**What do you think? Should I continue this story? I know I haven't got to the Tower of Babel stuff yet but I will. Soon. This is part of the story. I love reviews! Just saying!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry, there's not a lot of BMWW interaction in this chapter. Hope you still find it entertaining! And if you like it, please leave a review! :)**

**DIANA POV**

Diana cast one last look at Bruce, who was lying half on-half off the table half-conscious (with a pinch of guilt she realized she must have thrown him harder than she thought in her shock) and his foot in a bowl of punch, before ripping her dress to allow for more movement and launching herself into the air. She heard murmurs and gasps of outrage from the higher society members at this move but didn't care.

She soared towards the source of the noise. A woman lay on the floor near the entrance to the hall, shaking in her rumpled dress and pointing. Diana recognized her to be Mandi, Bruce's date. "I saw this... this thing in the hallway!" she shrieked. "It looked like a huge ape!"

Diana quickly ran through villians that might fit that description. Grodd or Ultra Humanite were likely candidates. "Stay calm," she told the woman. "Where did he go?"

Mandi pointed. "That way!" Down the hallway to the rooms where the relic was kept. Good. J'onn was stationed there, and should be able to deter whoever was coming. As she flew in pursuit she said into her com-link: "Wonder Woman to J'onn. Someone or something is coming your way. Get ready."

All she heard was static. Her heart pounded. Could the ape have gotten there that quickly? "J'onn? Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

She ripped open the door to the room, ignoring the blaring alarms. Her eyes immediately sought out the relic.

It was gone.

Diana gritted her teeth in frustration. She looked for J'onn, scanning the room, and eventually found him, unconscious and bound by a thick material she couldn't identify, on the floor in the corner. "J'onn!" she cried.

She heard someone enter the room. "What happened to him, Diana?" asked Superman, the concern evident in his voice and his expression.

"I don't know," Diana said, cradling J'onn's head. "I thought this was all going so well... and the relic is gone too."

Superman was all business. He started to scan, using his X-Ray vision to look through the walls of the building. After a moment, he inhaled sharply. "They're already outside! And they've got the relic!" He looked around. "Where's Batman? We could use his help."

Diana, despite all the unfortunate events of tonight, found herself smiling guiltily. "I may have hit him... and harder than I thought."

Superman looked awkward for a moment, then shook his head. "Never mind. Let's try and catch them before they get away."

The two of them flew out.

**BRUCE POV**

Bruce came to a minute after he crashed into the punch bowl to complete panic in the room and a splitting headache. He groaned; she hadn't thrown him very hard, but his head had hit the edge of the table by chance. He glanced down at himself. Well, his food-splattered tux was completely ruined, and his shoes were beyond repair having been soaked in punch. Alfred would have a coronary.

He brushed some pastries off his chest and stood in the midst of the chaos. People were running and screaming, primarily out the front doors. He singled out the problem right away.

Clayface was in the room.

No one was running and screaming from _him_, but they should have been. Clayface's ability to transform into other people was one of his most dangerous.

Bruce only recognized him because he knew his date's mannerisms. And the _true_ Randi- Mandi- would never have let her dress rumple in the way that Clayface had.

Bruce mentally calculated how long it would take to don his cape and cowl, but knew it would likely be too late. The priority was to stop the theft. Mandi/Clayface was already starting towards the doors. He made an executive decision.

He half-ran across the ballroom- no one noted this extremely out of character behaviour in the chaos- and placed a hand on Mandi/Clayface's shoulder just as the villian was leaving the ballroom.

"Hey, Mandi babe," he slurred, stumbling into her. Him. It. Whatever pronoun Clayface referred to himself as when he genderbended.

Mandi/Clayface just looked at him, unsure of how to respond.

"Stay for a while," he breathed, slinging and arm around her shoulder. "It'll be worth it, trust me."

Bruce could tell that Clayface was getting twitchy with the delay in his escape. "Do you not notice what's going on right now?" Mandi/Clayface shrilled. "Do you really think this is the right time to be talking about this?"

Bruce smiled to himself. Now _that_ was something the real Mandi would say. All though, the bimbo tone was a little overdone. "Definitely, Sandi," he said with a smile that was far too wide to be sober. "Need a friend for the end of the world?" He winked.

Bruce knew it required Clayface intense concentration to keep a human form and decided to capitalize on it. His only hope was to delay Clayface until one of the others came.

Internally making a face at what he was about to do, Bruce leaned in and kissed Mandi/Clayface on the mouth. His hands found their way to grope Mandi's... assets.

Done simultaneously, the shock and probably also knowing he was being kissed by another man took Clayface out of his concentration. Mandi's chest felt goopy suddenly.

Bruce tore his face away and looked in practiced horror at the face in front of him- Mandi's, yet not Mandi's. It looked like candle wax, drooping and distorting her features.

Bruce gave a very loud yell and jumped away, attracting attention. People nearby noticed Clayface and new screams joined the already chaotic noise in the hall.

There, thought Bruce with satisfaction.

Just then, with perfect timing, J'onn materialized inside the room. He saw Bruce. Bruce gave a very minute nod towards Clayface. As in, _Do the honours_.

J'onn complied.

As the two shapeshifters squared off in the middle of the hall, Bruce ducked into the washroom and flipped open his phone. "Alfred? I'm going to need my change of clothes..."

A few minutes later, all the guests were gone from the hall, having fled the scene. J'onn was having difficulty containing Clayface. Every time he threw a punch, Clayface would just absorb it.

Batman, now hanging from the rafters, thought as loudly as he could: _J'onn! Stand back!_

J'onn didn't question his order, but immediately fell back. Clayface took the opportunity to glide to the entrance in a bid to get away.

Batman dropped a blue canister from the ceiling, which hit Clayface in the back and shrouded him in mist. Clayface's last yell was that of extreme contempt: "_Batman._.."

Batman dropped to the floor silently with J'onn joining him at his side. The mist cleared to reveal Clayface, his face-like visage twisted in a scowl, now frozen entirely in ice.

"Liquid nitrogen," Batman explained when J'onn gave him a questioning look.

"He's... done?"

"For now."

Superman and Diana entered the room just then. Batman noted that Diana's dress was completely ruined. A shame.

"What happened?" gasped Diana, looking up at the small mountain of ice behind J'onn.

"New decoration," Batman said. "Let's compare notes."

_~Later~_

In the Watchtower, the seven founders sat at the meeting table, pondering the events of that night.

"So," Flash said. "Just to get this straight. This relic we've been trying to protect was stolen from right under our nose?"

"They were ready for us, just as we were ready for them," Superman replied tightly.

Diana rubbed her face tiredly. "We thought that my publicly being there might deter them from trying anything, but..."

"So how exactly did they steal it with four of us stationed there at the same time?" John interrupted from beside Shayera.

"Distraction," Batman said darkly. "Mirror Master and a few others were there. They knocked out J'onn, took the relic long before we knew head or tail about it. They knew we were on high alert for them, so they sent Clayface in disguised as a woman at the ball to make a distraction so our attention would be called elsewhere, while they made a run for it."

There was a silence.

"So where do we go from here?" asked Shayera tentatively.

Flash leaned forward. "I _still_ don't understand -" a few sighs around the table at those words- "why this relic is so important."

Shayera finally spoke when no one else wanted to. "Let me make this easy, Flash," she said. "Extremely. Powerful. Dark. Magic."

"Ooh."

"We don't have much of a choice," said Superman, "except to keep doing what we've been doing these past several months, and try to hunt down their Society. We don't know how they plan to use it so we can only hope we'll be ready when they do."

**SOMEWHERE**

"Did you get the relic?"

Cheetah, the one delegated to speak, swallowed and replied to the one sitting in the shadows. "Yes." She held it out in her clawed hand.

"Everything went according to plan?" the voice asked softly.

"Nearly," Cheetah said. "Clayface was apprehended by the Justice League."

"No matter," the voice hissed. "He will be freed soon... The Justice League will find it very difficult to interrogate him without the risk of his escape."

Now Star Sapphire pitched in. "Now what?"

"Now?" The voice was amused. "Nothing just now. But soon we watch them burn..."


	3. Chapter 3

**DIANA POV- ONE MONTH LATER**

Diana pushed as hard as she could against Giganta's foot that was hovered over her head, but it wouldn't budge. "Hera... give me strength!" she grunted, and finally managed to push it off and Giganta off-balance. Giganta naturally went crashing into the nearest warehouse building. Diana inwardly cringed.

"Wonder Woman! Behind you!"

Diana turned at the last second, just in time to see someone pointing a gun her way. She dodged and flew forward, sending a grateful smile at B'wana Beast who had issued the warning.

The mission was going as well as one could expect. A very public abduction of civilians by a masked group of men in Ivy Town had caused the Justice League to send down a small team led by herself and Batman (who was nowhere to be seen at the moment): B'wana Beast, Red Tornado and Black Canary. Of course, matters had been complicated when Giganta coincidentally showed up. Diana and B'wana Beast were left dealing with the fight they hadn't bargained for while the others sought the abductors.

She used her bracelets to deflect the rest of the bullets, until the gun-toting man was left with a series of empty clicks; as she flew towards him, he then threw the gun to the side and raised his fists. She socked him in the chin.

"Giganta's accounted for, ma'am," chirped B'wana Beast from behind her. "She's out cold."

Diana dusted off her hands. "Good. Let's find what we came here for."

The crowd of civilians that had gathered to watch parted when Diana stormed through their midst. They saw that look. She was a woman with a mission and a promise in her eyes. A promise that there was hell to pay for those who had caused this.

She ripped the door of the warehouse off its hinges, just in time for a thug to come sailing through it and land, skidding, several feet out. He did not stir.

Batman stood in the midst of twenty or thirty bodies lying in the room, adjusting his gauntlets casually.

Diana's anger drained away, only to be replaced with amusement. "Well done, Batman." She didn't expect a response and didn't get one. He was the Bat right now, and the Bat didn't do friendly. She didn't mind- she was fond of _all_ his personalities.

"Where's Tornado and Canary?" B'wana asked, gingerly stepping over a man's head as he entered the building. Batman turned towards a set of stairs in the corner Diana hadn't noticed.

"Upstairs, retrieving the prisoners," Batman replied over his shoulder as he swept up the stairs. Diana followed after issuing a direction to B'wana to get the would-be abductors tied up and ready for pick up by the police.

At the top, she nearly bumped into his back because he'd stopped. "Batman...?" she asked, questioning.

He didn't say anything, but she saw the almost imperceptible tensing of his shoulders when another, accented, feminine voice whispered: "_Beloved_..."

**BRUCE POV**

Batman watched, too shocked to do anything else, as Talia Al Ghul stood up from the huddle of prisoners. She was gorgeous as always, even though she looked quite worse for wear. Her clothes were torn, her body bruised badly. She was covered with crusted blood.

And yet, she still walked with that seductive way that she always had, her eyes half-lidded as they pinned him down...

Batman shut down that train of thought.

Talia sashayed over to him, standing a little closer than what might be considered normal. "_Beloved_," she sighed again, sweeping her bangs away from her eyes, "It has been too long."

Diana cleared her throat.

Talia's eyes glanced away from Batman then, and gave Diana a dismissive once-over. She turned her attention back to him and opened her mouth. "B-"

Fearing what she might say in front of all these people, he cut her off harshly, "Not here, Talia."

He saw Diana look at him curiously from his peripheral vision. She wasn't the only one. Black Canary and Red Tornado, who had been helping up the abductees, also had their attention on them. Hell, even the abductees wanted to know why one of their group seemed to know Batman personally.

He had to make sure they never knew the answer. His persona was all about mystique, after all.

He came to quick decision and turned to Diana. "I'm taking this one with me." He grabbed Talia's arm and made to walk out.

He had only gotten three steps dragging Talia when he found his way blocked by Diana, hands on her hips. Her full lips were pursed and her expression stony.

"Not so fast, Batman," she said authoritatively. "You can't just run off with a civilian -"

"She's not a civilian," replied Batman, his voice tinged with amusement at the very thought.

"Then who is she?" Diana demanded. "And before you say it's not my business, it is. This"- she waved her hand around at the general situation- "Is League business. And that means _she's_ League business, too." She stabbed a finger in Talia's direction. "And if you're going to _interrogate_ her-" she was smart, but Batman had always known that- "then we must be present."

Batman saw the fierce glint in her ocean-blue eyes and knew she wouldn't let him go without an explanation. One of the simultaneously greatest and worst things about Diana was that she was just about as stubborn as him.

She was also one of the only people that could get him to change his mind.

"I'm taking her to the Metro Tower," he said finally in a very low tone. The Batcave, his home ground, was always the best place to interrogate someone he personally knew; but he didn't want to waste time bickering with the Justice League. He just wanted some answers from Talia, and that wouldn't happen until he'd put on a show of interrogating her for them.

Diana seemed confused at his relenting- her posture slackened for a moment, and Batman took the opportunity to sweep past her. In his well hidden haste, hee almost- _almost_- missed seeing Talia wink at Diana, and her glare in response, from the corner of his eye.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

A/N**- I dislike Talia. Just want to put that out there. Anyway I would love to hear your thoughts, reviews are very appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 4

**DIANA POV**

_Beloved_?

The word made Diana want to laugh in amusement and, simultaneously, punch something in unexplainable rage. Preferably that woman's face. But that would have to wait.

After she let Batman leave, she turned to the others. "Let's get you all back to your families," Diana said to the former captives, with the gentleness she was known for. They looked reassured.

She and B'wana Beast helped escort them out while Black Canary and Red Tornado cleaned up the mess of unconscious bodies downstairs.

Diana felt rather than saw B'wana shoot her furtive glances as they went back in to help Canary and Tornado. Finally she could stand it no longer, turned to her colleague and asked, as business-like as possible, "What?"

B'wana looked a little taken aback at being caught, but recovered quickly. "Who _was_ that lady?" he asked, as he hefted a thug over his shoulder in a fireman lift.

Diana scooped up the last couple of them and started to walk out. "I wish I knew."

B'wana looked even more surprised at this. "Oh... I thought you would," he muttered. If Diana hadn't had excellent hearing she might not have heard this last comment.

With a little more force than necessary, she dumped the thugs she'd been holding at the feet of one of the policemen who had arrived at the scene and nodded to him respectfully, to which he immediately replied in kind.

"Why?" she asked B'wana a minute later, as they requested transportation from the Watchtower.

"Why what?"

"Why do you think I would know?"

B'wana looked a little awkward at this. "Well..." He scratched the back of his head, uncomfortably, in thought. "You and Batman are both founders, and I thought you were all tight." She could tell from the slow way he spoke that he chose his words carefully.

"Tight?" Diana repeated, unsure of the social context.

B'wana was saved from answering when Diana's com-link activated in her ear. "Wonder Woman?" asked Mr. Terrific's voice. "Transport to Watchtower?"

"To the Metro Tower, if you could," Diana corrected.

"Stand by."

The last she saw of B'wana was his long exhalation of breath.

And then she was in the Metro Tower, searching for Batman. After asking around, she found out what level he was on, and what room. A conference room. Not exactly a typical place for an interrogation, Diana mused, but then again, Batman's techniques had never had to be called into question before.

The door was locked. "Override. Wonder Woman." It slid open with a hiss, and she stepped inside.

This did not really look like an interrogation. The woman stood in front of him, had her hand on Batman's arm and was far too close. "It is strange," she was murmuring as Diana came in. "You reject the Lazarus Pits, yet you are just as handsome as the day I first met you," her hand trailed down his arm, "Maybe more."

Diana was surprised that Batman didn't immediately grab her hand and put her into an armlock or something like that. In fact, he wasn't doing much of anything. He just stood there, silent. Diana knew that he knew she was there, although he hadn't reacted in any physical way.

Diana decided to intervene at this point. "What's going on, Batman?"

"Leave us," the woman- Diana remembered Batman had called her Talia- replied dismissively, her eyes not leaving Batman's face for even a moment. "Why do you work with these tiresome people, beloved?" He just stared her down in response.

Diana put her hands on her hips and stepped into Batman's line of sight. "What, is _she_ conducting the interrogation now?"

"This is not an interrogation," Talia said scornfully. "This is _personal_."

Batman finally spoke, his voice pointing to the contrary. "Why is the League of Assassins trying to kill you, Talia?"

Talia removed her hand from his arm at the cold tone he used. She actually looked offended. "Is that how you usually greet your past lovers?"

Diana had suspected- She knew Bruce wasn't a saint by any means- but she still felt her stomach drop for a moment.

"No, only the ones that point a gun in my face when I try to take in an international terrorist," Batman retorted. There was clearly a sordid history here, Diana thought.

"That was my _father_!" Talia said loudly. Then she seemed to gain control over her voice again. "No matter. No matter our differences in the past. I split ways with my father some time ago."

Batman crossed his arms. "I'm going to ask you again," he said flatly. "I recognized the men I was fighting. They were Ra's Al Ghul's men. Why were they after you?" Diana recognized the name Ra's Al Ghul, probably from a case file. She made a note to look him up.

Talia, Diana noted with some satisfaction, seemed to realize at this point she wasn't getting any favouritism from the Batman, and stepped away from him. "_You_ are the detective," she said bitterly, turning to sit on the conference table. Diana finally got a better look at her. She had straight brown hair that cascaded over one side of her face, a feminine, petite pointed chin, and a long, graceful looking body that Diana could see even under the blood and dirt. She was quite beautiful.

Batman pointed one of his infamous Glares at Talia. She sighed. "Because I split ways with my father, he was angry and sent them to kill me. They cornered me there and I was beaten." She paused for effect before continuing. "It was cowardly of me, but I played dead. They thought I was dead. My father too. And then you came."

"I suspected as much," said Batman. "Why did you leave your father?"

Talia cleared her throat. "You were right about my father," she said quietly. "His cause was noble. Is noble. But his ways of achieving those ends are becoming more extreme by the day. I fear the Lazarus Pits are finally taking a serious toll on his mind."

There was a pause. Then Batman said, quietly, "How are your injuries?"

Talia seemed to bask in his attention, but waved her hand dismissively as a show. "It is nothing. A few shallow stab wounds is the worst of it." Diana was surprised she was still standing, then.

"Maybe we should take her to the infirmary," Diana suggested, not liking the softening look on Batman's face.

"Not necessary," he replied without looking at her. Diana found that he did that quite often lately- didn't look at her when he talked. "I hope the _interrogation_" he put emphasis on the word, "was satisfactory. I'm taking her with me now."

His tone left no room for argument; she wasn't getting anything from him right now. "Alright. But we _are_ discussing this with the rest of the League later."

Batman didn't acknowledge the comment but swept towards the door. "Let's go, Talia."

Talia hopped off the desk with a surprising amount of energy for a person who had nearly been beaten to death a few hours ago.

She glanced at Diana again. "Coming, Beloved," she called, staring at Diana while she said this. The way that she said _Beloved_ was almost reminiscent to Diana of an animal marking territory. _He's mine_.

Diana stared stoically back. She would not be reduced to the petty games this woman played. She held Talia's gaze until Talia finally slunk out of the room.

**BATMAN POV**

As soon as Batman's jet landed in the Batcave and they had gotten out, he turned to her. "Tell me what's really going on."

His pseudo-interogation had been a success, and the guise to bring Talia to the cave for tending to her injuries, a ruse to get the League off his back. Better they keep out of his business. Better he keep Diana out of his personal world. It was far too dark and twisted for a such a woman as her.

Unlike her, he and Talia thrived in the dark.

"That _is_ what is going on," Talia replied calmly, as she gingerly lowered herself onto the examination table and winced. Now that she was away from everyone else, she allowed herself to show weakness.

Bruce finally pulled off his cowl and ran a hand through his hair. "And why should I believe you?"

Talia watched him with half-lidded eyes. "Beloved..." she sighed, more defeated than anything else. "Is it not within you to believe any longer?"

_What if she's telling the truth_? the tiny, naive vestige of a heart Bruce had left in his chest asked. He attempted to ignore it. The damn thing always landed him in trouble in the end. Besides, his logical side told him something else was afoot here. Not everything in her story added up.

"Master Bruce?" a voice called from the top of the stairs leading up from the Batcave. "Shall I bring down the medical supplies now, or did you _not_ go on patrol yet this evening?"

Bruce internally rolled his eyes. "Hilarious, Alfred." He looked at Talia, clutching her side in obvious pain. "But you could bring down those medical supplies anyway. We've got a guest."

There was a pause in which Alfred peered down through the darkness. "Oh, _my_." His tone communicated more than his words; he knew all about his history with Talia. "Shall I ready a room as well, sir?"

Bruce nodded and Alfred disappeared back into the manor.

"I do not understand why you allow your servant to disrespect you so," Talia said scornfully.

Bruce felt a slight prick of irritation but didn't show it in his demeanour outwardly. "Afred is not my servant."

Talia scoffed and they sat in silence until Alfred came down with the supplies and a plate of finger foods.

"You can just set them down there, Alfred," said Bruce, making eye contact with his surrogate father. _I can handle this_.

"Will that be all, sir?" Alfred asked dryly in response. _Are you sure_?

Bruce nodded.

Bruce proceeded to help Talia dress her wounds with the brisk, impersonal efficiency of a doctor. He was keenly aware of her eyes boring into him, waiting for him to make eye contact with her so she could ensnare him.

But Bruce had learned his lesson. He was not meant for love. Only manipulation, at its hands. And all the women he'd ever cared for had twisted him to meet their own ends in some way or another.

Well, except the one... But he didn't want to think about her.

He abruptly stood after he was done and pulled his cowl back on. "I'm going on patrol. Alfred will see you to a room to stay in. We'll talk later."

He leaned in close to her face then. He heard her sharp intake of breath at his closeness. "And Talia?"

"Yes, Beloved?"

"Don't try anything."

**A/N: Thanks for sticking with this story! Leave a review if you likey! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**THREE WEEKS LATER**

**DIANA POV**

Superman folded his arms and stared at Batman from across the Founder's table. "You're a hard man to get a hold of."

"You're just figuring that out now?" replied Batman with a touch of wryness to his voice. Diana relaxed at his tone- maybe this conversation wouldn't have to be as tense as she'd imagined. They had already gotten through the rest of the agenda of today's meeting- including the matter of the mysterious disappearance of the container's containing Clayface-, and had left the hardest thing for last.

"We wanted to have this discussion a lot earlier than this," she spoke up. "Tell us about this Talia. Who is she?"

"And what is going on?" added GL. They had all been debriefed before this about what had taken place and all had agreed that Batman needed to give them some answers. Diana and Superman had done some research through the databases about Talia and Ra's Al Ghul, but they wanted to hear firsthand what Batman would say.

What little of Batman's handsome face that was visible hardened. He didn't take well to orders and demands. "It's none of your business."

J'onn sighed. "Batman, it has become League business. You must try to understand that."

Diana shot a furtive look at J'onn. _Did you look into his mind?_

_I try not to pry_, J'onn thought back to her, his inner voice sounding a bit guilty, _But his mental barriers... They are usually quite formidable, but today he has strengthened them even more. I cannot help but hear from his mind the message he is using to try to block me out_.

_Which is what_? Diana asked, curious.

_I am not sure... It is a fast-paced song in Korean that I have heard before, I believe_.

J'onn sounded almost annoyed, Diana mused.

_It is rather irritating, yes_.

Diana smiled to herself. Batman _would_ know how exactly to push even the ever-calm Martian's buttons. She tuned back in to the conversation at the table.

"I don't understand," Shayera was saying. "The Al Ghuls are your enemies, in fact you're all hostile towards Ra's Al Ghul according to League files, and yet you're, what, sleeping with his daughter?"

Batman gave her a bland look, like _Don't even go there_. "It's complicated."

"So tell us," Superman said, exasperated.

Batman looked up at him, the anger deeply etched into his scowl. "No. I don't need to tell you anything. You've already all done your research on this, so why do you need to question me?"

"It's League b-" GL began. Batman cut him off.

"No. It's not. You already know about the League of Assassins and everything that pertains to Ra's. _That_ was, perhaps, League business. Now you're just questioning me on why I brought someone to my house." He stood. "And that's personal. Stay out of it."

"Bruce! Wait!" Diana called, using his other name out of instinct. He paid no heed; a moment later he had swept silently out of the conference room.

Flash, who had been uncharacteristically untalkative until this moment, exhaled a breath noisily. "Well, _that_ went well."

"He doesn't trust us," GL said. "After all that we've all been through together, he still doesn't trust us."

There was a silence.

Diana wasn't sure about that. He had trusted them with his life on more than one occasion. There had been a doubt at the start, perhaps, but over the years he had proved himself time and time again to be capable of being a team player.

"Eh," said Flash with a shrug. "It's Bats we're talking about here. He doesn't trust anyone."

"But he might be right," Shayera argued. "Maybe what we were asking him to tell us was a little too much of a breach of privacy."

"It was important, though," Superman said, leaning his elbows on the table and running a hand through his hair. "Bru- Batman has his weaknesses." (Flash snorted at this.) "We know Ra's Al Ghul and his daughter have found them before. It could happen again. This was justified."

There were a few murmurs of assent around the table. Diana remained silent. She just didn't know what to think about Batman. This was alarming thing to realize at this point, especially since she was also rather sure she loved him, to some extent at least.

**BATMAN POV**

Bruce sat at the Batcomputer, staring straight ahead while rapidly typing up tonight's report and stewing. He was furious. They kept trying to butt in. Them against him, while Diana and J'onn, judging by their postures, had had their own private meeting. How many times had he told them to stay out of his way? Did he not send enough signals to them- to everyone- to Diana- that he wanted to be left alone?

"Is something up with the old man?" he heard Tim quietly ask Alfred behind him in the Cave somewhere. "Besides the stuff with his crazy ex-girlfriend, I mean?"

"I wish I could tell you, Master Tim," replied Alfred. "And might I remind you that the 'crazy ex girlfriend' you speak of is in the manor right now, so it would be prudent to mind your manners."

"Right," Tim whispered. "Man, I wish Bruce would get with someone _sane_ for once."

They _knew_ he could hear them. He was certain they were baiting him. He gritted his teeth, but didn't say a thing or pause in his typing. Bruce _did_ want to get with someone sane. But Batman would never allow that.

Diana would distract from the mission.

No she wouldn't! that pesky heart still existing within him cried. She'd never before, and even as his feelings grew for her, he'd never been more capable of doing his job.

Bruce was not stupid. He knew he cared for her far more than a colleague should. But he didn't want to examine to what depth that feeling went. He couldn't help it, no matter how much he acted brusque with her or tried to avoid her. She had awoken a longing in him. A feeling of hope that only _she_ could inspire.

He was forever struggling against it, and it didn't help that, inexplicably, Diana felt the same way. What she saw in him, he didn't know.

But he did know what they felt was dangerous. For both of them. He would inevitably break her. Because he- everything that he was- was nothing but darkness. And he would never want to inflict that sort of pain on someone so bright, so pure, so filled with light and happiness, as Diana.

He was so fixated on his inner torment that he almost didn't notice when Tim walked up behind him and said, "Bruce, why are you looking through petty theft cases from four years ago?"

**SOMEWHERE**

"It's time."

"For what?"

"The fall of Titans."

"But... only the Founders?"

"They are the glue that holds them together. Without them, the League is nothing. And without _him_, they are nothing."

**A/N: Yes, the song J'onn heard was Gangnam Style. Lol.**

**To all my readers, even you silent ones, I want to thank you for following the story thus far. We're moving into the next stage of the story now. Exciting stuff. Anyways, I probably haven't said this before, but I _mildly_ enjoy reviews sometimes. :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: It's tiiiiime. Time for the sh*tstorm to begin. Which is below, for your enjoyment. Every Founder of the League gets their own part! Yay! Although some of their parts are longer than others! Because I'm discriminatory! (JK- it just happened that way organically.) All their parts happen at roughly around the same time. I hope you like- I'm not that great at action scenes but I'm trying my best.**

**METROPOLIS**

Clark Kent was late for work.

Swearing quietly to himself (something he rarely did, even in the heat of battle), he fished underneath the bed for his tie but couldn't for the life of him find it. His X-Ray vision wasn't helping either. He was beginning to think the damn thing wasn't even in his apartment.

His phone buzzed. Distracted, he glanced down at it. A text from Diana, under a code name. It was how they communicated outside of League business.

_Did you talk to B_? the display read. Clark sighed. It had been a week since the awkward meeting that Batman had stormed out of.

_No, I haven't talked to the rodent_. Clark texted back. _I'm late for work_. _Can't talk._

_Sorry_, Diana's reply read. That was all.

Clark gave up on the tie and was just about to head out of the apartment when he realized he hadn't turned off the TV. He ran back in and reached for the remote.

"... He will not listen to the police," the reporter on TV was saying. "He says he will only listen to Superman."

Clark froze with his hand on the remote. The camera on screen zoomed in to a man on top of a very tall building, waving a gun around- at himself.

"Why this man wants to speak with Superman during his suicide attempt is unknown," the grim-looking reporter continued. "Will Superman show up to save this man, in a way he has never had to save a person before? That's the question we're all asking."

Clark was already gone to provide the answer.

**CENTRAL CITY**

Flash was on a train.

"Unmarked bills; he's trying to take them," the guard was saying as Flash untied them. "It's Mirror Master."

Flash knew that wasn't what Mirror Master was after. It was bait for him, all of it. "I'll get him," Flash said gravely. He zoomed into the next compartment.

"Hello, Flash," said Mirror Master, decked out in his usual goggles and yellow costume. He'd obviously been waiting for him. Beside him stood a box draped in a black cloth.

Flash gritted his teeth. "What's in the box?'

"A dead grandma."

Flash's eyes widened. "How sick are y-"

"Relax. She's not dead yet." Mirror Master smirked. "I get ahead of myself sometimes."

Flash felt himself channelling the Batman as he clenched his fists. "Talk."

Mirror Master pulled the black cloth off, revealing a clear box with an old woman unconscious inside. His hand reached a button on the box faster than Flash's mind could process, and by the time Flash got across the ten foot distance to grab his wrist, he'd already pushed the button. "This button has started a countdown. When it's up in sixty seconds, the woman inside will die. Or you can reach your hand inside" He pointed to a conveniently placed hole at the top of the box- "and open it to let her out."

Flash frowned. "It's a trap."

Mirror Master smiled again enigmatically. "Probably. Are you willing to take that chance?"

Flash spent three precious seconds debating. Then he decided. "When I free her," Flash grumbled as he put his hand inside and began to quickly spin the lock on the ceiling of the box, "I'm gonna take your goggles and shove them _so far up your_- Aaagh!"

With his cry of pain he withdrew his hand. Agony pulsed through his wrist- a device of some kind that had been lurking in the box unseen was now attached- no, _driven through_- his wrist. The women in the box suddenly disappeared- one of Mirror Master's tricks, she'd been an illusion all along.

"Careful there," Mirror Master said in that amused way of a parent watching their toddler harmlessly trip over the carpet, "It's bolted through your wrist. It's a bomb, and it's going to go off in thirty seconds." He paused for effect. "You can play the hero and run off to the desert to let it go off... but know this, once you start running, you can't decelerate or..."

"It'll explode," Flash finished, his worst fear coming true when his opponent nodded.

"Choose wisely, Flash," said Mirror Master calmly. "It doesn't matter to me, because I'm not really here anyways..." His body began to blur around the edges, and the trick of the light vanished.

Left alone in the train compartment, Flash let out a string of choice swear words.

**GATEWAY CITY**

Diana had nothing to do.

It was a quiet morning- No monitor duty, no missions, no public appearances to be made. So, she was touring the city.

It was a beautiful place, this Gateway City, she thought. The Themyscyrian embassy that she had been pushing for would find a nice home near the seaside here.

As she walked down the sidewalk she attracted a lot of stares. Even wearing a blond wig and large sunglasses, her beauty could not be contained. She despised it sometimes, the way it caused men to lust after her body and women to envy her rather than appreciate what they themselves had. Man's World had a way of being very shallow, with their judgment not going past the surface.

Of course, there were those who saw beyond that. Especially her friends on the Watchtower. That was where she truly felt comfortable.

And with Bruce, too. He had a way of looking at her that made her shiver; because she felt like his gaze went deep inside her, past all her outer beauty, and pierced her soul. He was one of the few men that did not look at her in a lecherous way the first time they met.

A scream interrupted her musings. She stopped and looked in the direction of the noise- to the docks.

Cheetah.

So much for a quiet morning. Diana ran in the opposite direction of everyone else, to the criminal that was now crouched on the railing of the docks after having taken out a few civilians. "Hello, Diana," she said with a cheeky grin, and although Diana was only halfway down the street, she still heard.

Diana ripped off her sunglasses and wig and turned on the spot to change into her Wonder Woman costume as she ran. "Cheetah," she snarled, coming to a halt a few feet in front of her enemy.

"What took you so long?" Cheetah said with a feral grin as she lounged on the railing.

Diana didn't ask. It was in her blood to fight; so she lunged.

**BROOKLYN**

John woke up in his cozy apartment. He didn't open his eyes- just listened for a few minutes to the sounds of birds and cars and people on the streets below him, and basked in it, this little window into a simpler life. Before he became Green Lantern. Before the Justice League. Before Shayera came along and drove him insane.

He sighed and opened his eyes.

He blinked a couple of times and opened his eyes again.

But all he saw was darkness. _He couldn't see a thing_.

He was... blind.

And if he was blind... so was his ring.

**CHINA**

"Happy birthday, John!" His coworkers exclaimed.

They were sitting in a small restaurant for dinner, his coworkers in the local police force, his wife, and himself, J'onn.

"Oh... how did you know?" he asked in what he hoped was a puzzled tone, while catching the mischievous eye of his wife.

"How do you think we knew, dum-dum?" laughed his colleague, seeing this. "I'm buying you a drink, John."

Amid much protest, the waitress was signaled, a young Chinese woman in her twenties who came with a drink. "Thank you," said J'onn graciously in Chinese. She nodded demurely and scurried off.

A whole round of drinks was ordered then, and soon enough everyone at the table was telling stories and laughing raucously. J'onn, however, was beginning to feel ill.

_What's wrong?_ his wife asked in her head.

_I am not feeling well,_ he replied. _I will go outside for some fresh air. Perhaps that will help_.

_Hope it's not that flu that's going around,_ his wife thought to him worriedly. _I'll come with you outside_.

He stood, and had to catch himself from swaying. He felt concerned eyes on him.

"What's wrong, John? Had a little too much to drink?" asked one of his friends.

"No," he replied. "I- I must use the restroom."

As he made his way around the tables, he felt the confusion in all their minds and one say, "...Then why is his wife going with him?"

Once he was outside, he leaned against the wall. His wife put her hand on his forehead.

"You're burning up," she exclaimed with surprise. "And you're sweating."

He was. Profusely. He pulled his sweater stickily away from his skin. His brow furrowed. "I... I do not understand what is happening."

"I do."

J'onn and his wife looked up. The pretty young waitress stood before them, but unlike before, there was a glimmer of malice in her eyes.

And now J'onn saw. Too late.

Too late he looked into the waitress' mind and saw that she was a shapeshifter- Clayface.

Too late he reacted to the lighter she flicked towards him.

Too late he realized, as he caught on fire immediately and heard his wife scream... magnesium.

Too late.

**PARIS**

"This looks like a tent," Shayera said scornfully to the store clerk. "People wear this? I can't believe this city is considered a fashion capital in this world."

"It's a new trend," the clerk said tentatively.

Shayera snorted unattractively and put the baggy sweater back on the rack. People all around the high-end store were staring at her. Shayera knew she struck an imposing figure, tall as she was... and oh yeah, with wings sprouting out of her back. Humans thought wings were weird, but Shayera had always thought humans looked weird with their plain... naked-looking backs. Like a head without a nose, a back without wings was just strange to her.

Shayera had no idea why she had indulged Vixen in letting her take her to Paris. She'd been tagging along the first few days, but today Vixen was at a Paris Fashion Week event that Shayera had had no interest in going to.

Probably a mistake not going to that. Hanging around critiquing humans' fashion choices likely wasn't helping her new and improved image as _not a traitor_.

Ignoring the people taking photos of her with their phones, she left the shop and made her way to a very wide, very open park.

"Aaah," she sighed, spreading her arms to the wide expanse of green space. Better yet, nobody was there at this hour of Monday morning. Her wings itched to take flight. Freedom.

She spotted something out of the corner of her eye as she walked. Curiosity got the better of her. She turned.

A flower.

But it wasn't just some ordinary flower. It was a flower she'd never seen before on earth... but one which had been quite common on Thanagar.

She gasped involuntarily- for a moment, didn't question how this was even a possible, but amidst the emotion of her loss of her home planet, broke into a run to touch it.

As she neared, her excitement dulled. It was nothing like a Thanagarian flower, not really. The petal texture was all wrong. She picked it up and examined it closely. Still, a clever fake.

It wasn't like anything on Earth, though, either. Which brought her to wonder, what was a flower that looked like it was from Thanagar coincidentally doing in the same park she was walking in?

At the same time she came to her conclusion, a mist of something sprayed directly out of the flower's petals. Shayera inhaled in involuntarily, then coughed. Her eyes watered.

Some sort of gas- it was a trap! she thought with horror as she dropped down to the grass, unable to move her limbs. Her vision wavered.

Suddenly, a steel box dropped down on top of her. She was encased in darkness.

She gasped, in her panic not bothering to wonder where such a thing could have come from in the sky. All her rationality as a detective fled her as she succumbed to her intense claustrophobia.

Her body could feel every wall of the box- And was it just her imagination, or were they slowly moving inwards?

She screamed.

**GOTHAM**

Bruce hadn't slept for two days.

It was becoming a norm, though, so Alfred didn't fret about it quite as much as he once did. When Batman got immersed in his work, he didn't leave it until it was finished.

Unless... something more important came along.

"Master Bruce," coughed Alfred.

Bruce didn't even turn his head, just kept typing on the Batcomputer. "What is it, Alfred?" he said, a little bit irritably. he was in the middle of a case- Arkham still hadn't recovered all of its inmates lost in a mass breakout months ago, and he was close to nailing Killer Croc in his newest lair. "I'm busy." If it was Talia- with whom he had been unsuccessful in getting more information, so they were now at a stalemate of sorts- calling for Bruce to get away from his work and join her, she was going to be severely disappointed.

"I would say this subject deserves your attention, sir."

Something about Alfred's tone gave Bruce pause. After rubbing his haggard jaw tiredly for a moment, he swiveled in his chair to face his surrogate father, who was clearly waiting for his full attention. "I'm listening," he said cautiously.

Alfred hesitated. Bruce's heart jumped at the non-action.

"Sir, it's about your parents..."

**A/N: Bit of a longer chapter than I had anticipated. I hope you're enjoying the festivities so far! Next two chapters should be fun, although if you've watched Justice League: Doom and/or read JLA Tower of Babel, you already know the gist of it. I know the pace here is a little brisk but I did it on purpose, because this isn't really the intended focus of the story- hope it's not too distracting. As you probably know by now, reviews are very appreciated!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This is more of a Bruce-ccentric chapter compared to the last one. No more all-Founder POV's. Alas! And as I said before, I'm a bit awkward with action-oriented scenes. Hope you enjoy anyway. **

**WATCHTOWER**

Green Arrow yawned. He hated Monitor Duty, and was starting to get the feeling that Batman purposely scheduled all his shifts whenever he had a date with Dinah planned.

That guy was nasty.

Oliver was ripped out of his fantasies of beating up Batman with a baseball bat when suddenly, the power went out. He was encased in darkness, and met with the silence of a hundred different machines' quiet whirring turning off all at once.

"This _would_ happen on my shift," he grumbled to himself. He touched his comm. "Green Arrow to Mr. Terrific."

No response, even when he repeated himself several times. He was actually going to have to get up.

Just as he did, Mr. Terrific, accompanied by a serious looking Fire, walked into the Monitor Womb.

"Watchtower systems are down," Mr. Terrific said grimly. "Communicators aren't working."

"_And_ we're in lockdown," added Fire in her heavy accent. "What are the chances?"

"Computer malfunction?" Oliver suggested hopefully.

"Highly doubtful," replied Mr. Terrific. "I wonder if it's happening to the Metro, too?" But they had no way of knowing.

"How long will it take to fix?" Oliver asked, finally. Dreading the answer.

"An hour at least, with the limited personnel we have aboard at the moment."

Oliver groaned. He was _so_ going to invest in a nice, titanium baseball bat.

**GOTHAM**

"No..." he whispered. But his eyes did not deceive him.

In front of him, in the midst of the graveyard that he had returned to so often, there lay...

Nothing.

Just holes in the ground, freshly dug up dirt spewing over the sides onto the grass. Coffins removed.

His parents were gone.

Bruce fell to his knees, unable to stop the agony from spreading over his features. "No," he whispered again. He put his head in his hands. The emotions that he usually kept faithfully buried with his parents were flooding to the surface, and he couldn't stop it, he couldn't control it, he couldn't control _himself_. "No."

So blinded he was by his emotion that he almost missed the sound of a near silent approach behind him until it was too late.

He was up in a flash, wheeling around at an almost inhuman speed. But it wasn't fast enough. The last thing he saw was a heavy flash of steel, before pain erupted in his head and he descended into the darkness.

**METROPOLIS**

"What's the point?" said the man on the rooftop with a hint of desperation to his voice. The gun was pressed to his head, his hand tightly fisted over the trigger.

"Trust me," Superman said calmly, floating some ways away from the man, who had threatened to pull the trigger if he so much as imagined Superman making a move. He still reckoned he might be fast enough to take the gun from him first, but he wasn't taking the chance just yet. "Life does get better."

"Easy for you to say," sneered the man. "You're the most powerful guy in the world, you've got a hot reporter girlfriend and everybody loves you."

"The grass is always greener on the other side," Superman said. He acknowledged to himself that he wasn't the best at this, but he was trying. Sudden inspiration struck him. "Maybe I'm not the best example. But I know a guy who has been through more hell in his life than most of us put together ever will. Most people don't understand how he finds the strength to keep going, but I think I understand. Just a glimmer of hope in your darkest times is enough to think, what if tomorrow will be better?" He cleared his throat. "And it will be. I promise."

The man seemed to waver in his resolve for a moment; his white knuckled grip loosened slightly. "You think?"

"Yeah," said Superman with a small smile, his confidence returning as his efforts were apparently not in vain. "I do."

"Then you're a damn fool." The man pointed his gun at Superman and shot him.

He fell.

**GATEWAY CITY**

"The rumours are right, Diana," Cheetah taunted, taking another swipe. "You _are_ getting slow."

Diana expertly dodged and executed a scissor kick to catch Cheetah's neck and use her momentum to slam her into the ground. "Rumours are hardly a reliable source to base your arrogance on, Cheetah."

Cheetah sprang up just as quickly with a snarl, and the two women engaged again in a flurry of deadly-looking punches and kicks. Cheetah finally managed to hit Diana on the side of her face, boxing her ear.

"But they usually hold a grain of truth," grinned Cheetah.

Blood dripping steadily down the side of her neck, Diana felt anger grip her. With a battle cry, she jumped again at her opponent, this time determined to take her down for the damaging of her Amazonian pride.

Her eyes felt a little bit blurry, but she fought on anyway. Did Cheetah have poison on her claws? she wondered. She banished the thought from her mind.

Cheetah, infuriatingly, twisted out of Diana's grip again and backflipped out of her line of sight. Growling, Diana wheeled around, only to stop short.

A crowd of Cheetahs stood before her, grinning ferally and sharpening their claws. The words they murmured were lost on Diana's ears.

Was this some trick? "Cheetah!" she yelled. "Where are you?"

"Here," all the dozens of Cheetahs replied distinctly.

Her heart beating at a wild pace, she scanned and decided she could take them down. She could.

But there were more.

**CHINA**

He was screaming, she was screaming, and there was laughter, tinkling softly in the background somewhere.

Pain. Pure, unadulterated agony ripped through him. Everything screamed. He felt himself stumbling, irrationally, thinking, _water, water, water_...

Foolish of him. Even as he fell over the railing and into the water, the fire that burned him was never more alive.

Unfinished thoughts flickered through his head. Poison... Sweated out... Magnesium... _Dying_...

But soon every coherent inkling of thought left him.

**GOTHAM**

He woke with a gasp.

It was completely dark, and Bruce couldn't see a thing. With a groan, he tried to get up.

Within two inches from lifting himself, his back hit the ceiling. All his breath left him as he collapsed back onto his stomach. He waited a minute, letting his eyes adjust to his surroundings. He was lying on a cushioned surface... But the wall right next to his head was wooden... and if he turned his head he could see the ceiling of the-

Casket.

He'd been buried alive. And judging by where he'd been knocked out, he'd been buried alive in his parents' grave.

Barring the fact that this was completely sick, at this point most people would have gone into a hysteria that would ultimately be their end- hyperventilation that would lead to a lack of oxygen that would lead to a slow, agonizing death of asphyxiation. Bruce knew this. Still, he felt the panic descend upon him, making his breath into short, rapid puffs of air. But he forced himself to calm down. He forced his fear and his roller coaster ride of other emotions deep, deep down below the surface. Batman was all about logic.

But even as his fear retreated, he felt a new feeling take its place and become dominant.

Rage.

And this was an emotion that Bruce was quite familiar with; one that he embraced, actually.

It was what made him reach into his pocket and withdraw his keys.

Put his keys between his knuckles and grit his teeth at the pain that was to come.

And punch the ceiling of this coffin.

He was not dying here. He was getting out to avenge this insult to his parents. And it was going to test his control. His face was a snarl of anger. It burned within him like whiskey, lighting every nerve on fire, so much so that he couldn't feel the slick pain that shot dully through him as his knuckles bled.

He made himself take deep, slow breaths as he continued hitting as hard as he could. Blood dripped down from his hand, running down his arm and splattering onto his face. But he didn't even notice- his vision was already a haze of red.

_~Sometime later~_

It was raining when Bruce finally staggered home.

Alfred answered the door, already looking haggard, and even more concerned when he took in Bruce's appearance. Blood was all over his suit, dying his shirt red, clothes rumpled and ripped, and his face was bruised and expression murderous. "Master B-?"

Bruce brushed past him. He heard Alfred follow closely. He had not allowed Alfred to drive him to the graveyard, preferring to see the sight of his parents' abandoned graves for himself.

Predictably, Bruce went down to the Batcave and sat down at the computer. He turned off the news channel that had been on, warning of several earthquakes in the Middle East, and pulled up the press release from his parents' deaths. "Master Bruce," Alfred called. "I will forgive you from telling me what happened only because a more pressing matter is at hand."

His charge looked at him, expression bleak for just a moment. "A _more_ pressing matter?" Alfred felt a pang of something in his chest, something like pity that he would rather not feel but couldn't help.

"Channel Five, sir," he said quietly.

Bruce tapped a few buttons on his computer, only to be met with a live news image of an unconscious Superman lying on his back in the middle of a Metropolis street. His back was the centre of a large crater in the road, surrounded by a dozen medics. "Emergency personnel are doing all that they can," the reporter was saying. "But nothing they have done seems to be effective. Meanwhile, the Man of Steel is not waking up. We can only hope and pray that he will stay alive long enough for someone" her voice lost its professional edge and was overcome by a desperate tinge- "_someone_ who will be able to help."

With difficulty, Bruce forced his concerns over his parents' missing bodies out of his head for the time being to focus on the newest challenge at hand. It had to be Kryptonite- the Boy Scout's great weakness was fairly well known in the criminal world. And nothing else would affect him like this. It wouldn't be too difficult of a matter to solve the issue, but Batman might not get to Metropolis in time to save him.

He made a decision and pressed another button on his computer. "Batman to Flash. Superman's in trouble. I need you to go to Star Labs and have them make a scalpel out of kryp-"

"I can't right now, Bats," said Flash through the comm; Bruce could hear him breathing a little more loudly than he usually would while he was running. "I'm in a bit of a fix myself."

"What?" asked Bruce, instantly alert. Three Leaguers attacked in one day could not be a coincidence.

Flash huffed, indignant even at his most perilous hour. "It's this stupid bomb drilled through my wrist. Mirror Master tricked me into getting it put on me. Batman, it's not a normal bomb. If I stop running-"

"It'll explode," Bruce guessed, a growing sense of dread rising within him.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Hold on, Flash," commanded Bruce, his keen mind working very fast. "Keep running. I'll get back in contact soon." He pressed another button without waiting for a response. First things first, selfish or not, he needed to see if _she_ was all right. "Batman to Wonder Woman."

He got no response, but he heard something more terrifying: a wild, out of control scream. The sounds of fists on flesh.

"Diana!" He was standing up in a flash, shouting her name, losing his composure in front of Alfred. He felt the urge to jump in the Batwing and fly to Gateway City right now. But he wasn't that selfish, not yet.

A sudden thought struck him. He got down on his knees and started scanning the Batcomputer's exterior with his hands. Alfred looked on with raised eyebrows until Bruce found what he was looking for: a tiny electronic bug, on the bottom side of his keyboard.

"Alfred," he barked. "Send for Talia. Right now." He had a feeling he knew exactly what was happening to his teammates, and with it a horrible realization was dawning over him.

"I'm afraid she isn't in the manor, sir-"

"Check. _Find her_."As his butler made a hasty exit, Bruce pressed another sequence of buttons on his keyboard. "Batman to J'onn."

He heard J'onn's agonized scream. Then, weakly: "Batman... Help me..."

"Stay with us, J'onn," Bruce commanded forcefully, as if his direction alone could keep his teammates alive.

"Batman to Green Lantern."

He heard scuffles. "Batman!" John's normally calm, controlled voice was panicked. "I've- I've gone blind. And I'm being attacked by people I can't even see. My ring isn't working!" John gave an anguished yell of pain.

This was something he could deal with right now. It would be too time-consuming to explain the post-hypnotic suggestion that had been given to him, so Bruce cut to the chase. "Your ring is only a tool of imagination," said Bruce harshly. "And an extension of your will. If you believe yourself to be blind, it will make it so. If you believe you can see, you will."

There was a silence on the other end of the line, broken only by some muffled hits and muted groans. John was still fighting, only blindly swinging his fists. "That's the stupidest thing I've _ever_ heard, and I go on frequent missions with the Flash," John said finally.

John appeared more calm now that he was speaking to him, Bruce couldn't help but notice. "Trust me."

He felt the hesitation in John- so much that it was palpable. But he also felt it when John got over his hang-ups enough to say, "All right."

Bruce cut the line immediately, knowing John would do it. The man didn't trust too easily, but when he did, he did it with his whole heart.

"Batman to Hawkgirl," he said next, not really expecting a coherent answer. He didn't get one.

He knew exactly what was happening to her. He tapped a few more buttons. The Watchtower was unresponsive. And his worst fears were confirmed.

"You called, Beloved?"

Bruce turned, feeling anger pulse through his veins. He held up the electronic bug he'd kept in his fist. "Want to explain this?"

Talia looked startled, then miserable. She turned her face away. "I'm sorry, Beloved," she whispered. She closed her eyes.

They flew open when Bruce grabbed her- hard- by the shoulders and got in her face. "You hacked my computer," he snarled. "Gave Ra'as my plans, didn't you? You betrayed me. Again."

Her mouth was a line of misery at this, and then suddenly her eyes sharpened as she took in his ragged appearance. "What happened to you?" she gasped.

"Oh, nothing," Bruce mocked her. "Just got buried alive in my parents' grave. By the League of Assassins, I'm guessing." He heard Alfred's sharp intake of breath but chose to ignore it. "I trusted you!" His voice came near cracking but he controlled it at the last second. "And now they're after the League... The whole league? Or the Founders? Tell me!" he snarled, and his face was a mask of hate that didn't need the cowl to look menacing.

"The- the founders," Talia stammered as he shook her. "But Beloved, he said- my father promised he wouldn't kill you! I don't understand!"

"And you believed him? I thought you were smart." He shook his head, disgusted, and let her go, roughly pushing her away from him.

Talia was the picture of regret. She hugged her own upper arms. She was no longer flirting, no longer trying to seduce. She suddenly looked like a very lost woman; a very lost woman torn in two and forever struggling. Just like him. In that moment when he saw her as she truly was, for that fleeting moment, his heart took pity on her. His gaze must have softened, for she then said, "How cynical you have become in these years," she said, not accusing, just... sad. "I remember you used to be much less dark. Less forboding." She shook her head. "More trusting. More forgiving."

He clenched his fists, wanting to shout, to make her realize that manipulative people like her and her father _were_ the ones that had made him this way, hardened his shell and tucked away the real Bruce Wayne so far into the shadows that he wasn't even quite sure he existed anymore. Closing himself off was the only way he could _survive_- not for himself, but for the people that needed Batman.

"Get out," he said finally, his voice no longer carrying the weight of barely restrained rage. He was surprised to find it sounded rather hollow. He felt utterly spent of emotion. "Get out of my house. I'll deal with you later." The threat hung emptily, lacking conviction.

He turned to Alfred, now ignoring Talia, who stood there, a single tear dripping down her face now. And his heart would break again over this betrayal, right after the urgent matters were done with, when he had time to torture himself with the knowledge. Right now he had to be strong. Maybe he could correct his mistakes before it was too late. "Alfred, ready the Batwing. The Justice League is under attack."

Alfred's tone was confused. "By who?"

As he went to put on his suit, Bruce thundered, "By me!"

**A/N: Spent a lot of time on this chapter. Wow that was super long. Anyway I love reviews! :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**BATMAN POV**

Batman was in the Batwing, flying at top speeds towards Gateway City. He pressed a button and Flash was on the line.

Now, Flash's breathing was distinctly ragged. "Batman?" he said, sounding tired. "I'm going to try something. I'll try and vibrate-"

"No!" Batman cut him off harshly. "That won't work."

"How do you know?"

Batman didn't even dignify that question with a response. "Trust me. How far are you from an iceberg?"

"Uh, _not_," said Flash. "What, do you think if I run through one and abandon the bomb, that would slow it down enough?"

"Just," Batman replied. "But you have to be careful. One misstep and-"

"Kablooey. I get it." There was a sigh on the line. "Here goes."

Batman gripped his controls and listened to the static on the line for several tense moments. Then he heard Flash yelp, and the unmistakeable boom of a bomb going off.

His heart jumped. If Wally died, it was his fault, all his fault... "Flash!"

There was a pregnant pause, but the communicator continued to work. Finally, the Flash replied. "Yeah," he said, sounding out of breath and relieved. "I'm here. I'm alive."

"Good," said Batman, unable to keep a small amount of relief out of his voice. He hardened it instantly. "Now get up and listen carefully: I need you to go to Star Labs for that kryptonite scalpel. Superman's been shot."

"No way! But how-"

"No time to explain," Batman barked. "Get it done. While you're there pick up some aluminum oxide. Bring the scalpel to Metropolis, you'll find some medics with him at the scene, give them the scalpel. Then go to China-" he railed off the coordinates- "where you'll find J'onn being burned alive." He heard Flash gasp as he ran and chose to ignore it. "Inject him with the aluminum oxide. Then contact me." He switched off the link without waiting for a response and turned on another.

"Batman to Green Lantern."

"Yes," said John. "Everything's been taken care of. I can see; that stupid trick actually worked." Batman heard the disbelief and the underlying suspicion in John's voice.

"I figured it would." Batman paused, but John didn't say anything else. "Shayera's in trouble."

"What?!"

"She's in Paris, being forced to live out her worst nightmares in the middle of a park." He knew this situation without having even heard it from her. Because he had devised it. "Her vitals are spiraling out of control. Unless she gets the antidote soon, she will die from fear."

John sounded extremely panicked. "Well, where do I get this antidote?"

"Meet me at the Gateway City docks in five." He switched off the link and could only hope he had correctly calculated how long Shayera's strength would last.

When he landed in Gateway City, he could immediately tell something was wrong. People were running, screaming, from something. Only because he had done this did he know what they were scared of.

Diana.

And then he saw her, his beautiful, strong Diana; gazing at the world through wild eyes, her posture suggesting something far beyond mere exhaustion. She was _dead_ tired.

He knew what she was seeing right now. Because of a piece of nano-tech planted in her ear, she was seeing every person as a version of an enemy. And because of Diana's unwillingness to back down from a fight, she was trying to take them all down.

This could go on forever; Diana beating up hundreds of harmless civilians, getting increasingly more panicked, and finally collapsing and theoretically, dying from exhaustion. Because while she was alive, she would never stop fighting.

He admitted to himself that they were not so unlike each other.

He quietly descended upon the scene just as he saw Green Lantern descend from the sky. He would have to deal with him first.

By his estimates, she was not yet at the point of death yet. But as he watched her throw a police car at a group of terrified civilians, he acknowledged he didn't want to let it get that far.

John was alarmed. "What's Diana doing?"

Without even looking at John, he pressed the antidote to the concentrated form of Scarecrow's fear gas into his hand. "I'm handling it. Administer this to Shayera," he said, and then once again railed off a list of coordinates. He didn't need to tell John twice; the ex-marine felt the urgency of the situation and didn't question the order.

Batman then turned his mind to the task at hand. He had to get close to Diana to take the nano-tech off her; but how to go about that? She would see him as an enemy, possibly try to kill him in her state.

"Oh my god, Batman?" asked a policeman hysterically, finally noticing Batman at his side for the first time. "You're real- I mean, you're _here_?" He seemed to get over that pretty quickly when Batman sent a diluted version of the BatGlare. "Wonder Woman's gone nuts. You gotta do something!"

Batman ignored him and walked calmly into Diana's line of sight ("What? No! That's not what I meant! She'll decimate you!" the policeman yelled frantically.).

Diana was panting in the middle of the clearing, her eyes darting everywhere. There were policemen and civilians completely surrounding the barriers the police had put in place, watching her fearfully.

What a bunch of idiots, Batman thought. Diana was attacking every person she saw. A barricade wasn't going to stop her. As Diana took a step towards a group of children near the front of the audience, his heart jumped. The only way to stop her from hurting more innocent civilians was to distract her with a new victim: Himself. He didn't have the luxury of time to think of a better strategy at the moment, but hoped that one presented itself in the heat of battle.

Yeah, he thought grimly, he was going to need Alfred's med kit by the time this was over.

"Wonder Woman!" he growled to get her attention. Her head whipped around, and her eyes narrowed on him. "Are you the real Cheetah?" she asked menacingly, advancing towards him. "Or are you another one of her clones?"

"And why would you think that?" he asked, stalling. One of his gloved hands slipped into his utility belt.

Diana circled him, coming in closer with each revolution. "You move with her predatory grace," she announced. "If I take you down, this will be over."

Denial, denial, denial. Such flawed logic. Batman would have tsked if Diana had brought this sort of stratagem up in a more casual environment.

She lunged at him without warning. Fortunately, he had not survived so long without quick reflexes, and dodged out of the way, throwing down a smoke bomb to impede her. He heard her growl in frustration.

He had to get her into some kind of hold to get her still enough to take that nano-tech out of her ear. He didn't want to antagonize her exhausted heart either, though, so he had to keep the fight low-key.

It was a hard balance to strike.

He jumped at her from behind, feet first into her back. On a human, this would have immediately planted them into the ground stomach-first. But Diana was a lot stronger; she staggered, almost falling to her knees, but then reached behind her and grabbed his legs.

Batman barely had the time to even think a curse word before she threw him bodily over her head. He somersaulted and managed to land on his feet, just in time to see her fist flying at him.

His head snapped back at her punch. _Wham_. Another into his stomach; he felt and heard a rib crack. He managed to dodge the next rapid fire blow by ducking; at the same time, he swept his leg under her feet, tripping her up. She fell to the ground. He kneed her in the stomach, wincing inwardly, but he knew that he wasn't strong enough to really hurt her. "Diana!" he shouted. "You're being tricked. I'm not Cheetah. None of these people are!"

Diana made no sign of even understanding what he had just said. She was up then, her beautiful eyes flashing with anger. She telegraphed and took another swing at him; he dodged easily. She was getting extremely sloppy. It was a telling thing of her condition. He executed a neat back kick, catching her in the chin. She staggered back, growling, and came at him again. He dodged to the side again deftly. And again. And again.

By now she was snarling, frustrated. Her chest heaved from the effort; Batman was actually amazed she was putting up such a fight at this point. "Diana," he said quietly. "It's me. It's Batman." She launched herself at him in response.

The more he evaded her, the more agitated she got; the more sloppy she got. At one point Batman got her into an arm lock and attempted to quickly reach into her outer ear. But she twisted out of his grip and punched- he swiveled out of the way and front kicked her away from him.

She staggered. He didn't have a choice anymore; he couldn't get her to hold still. He had to take her down, he realized.

As they parried across the neatly trimmed lawn, his blows got progressively harder; he used sneakier techniques. He threw everything he had in his utility belt at her; some Batarangs glanced harmlessly over her bracelets, while she missed others and got hit.

His hand closed on something else in his utility belt. A syringe carrying strong anesthetic, which he had been carrying for his next encounter with Killer Croc.

He hated the idea of using it on her, which was why he had refrained from doing so for this long. But then again, he had done _this_ to her, so what was one more heinous act in the grand scheme of things? he thought bitterly.

Inhumanly quick, and far too fast for the exhausted Diana to even follow, he had plunged the syringe right into her arm. Her eyes widened for a moment, then rolled back. He deftly plucked the offending piece of nano-tech out of her ear and crushed it as she sagged in his arms.

He looked down at her sleeping face, her eyebrows unfurrowed, her mouth untwisted from its snarl. The anesthetic would probably only keep a meta like her out for a minute or two, tops.

He was keenly aware of the people still standing around the perimeter watching curiously, so he forced himself to let go of her, and gently slid her body into the grass.

"I'm sorry, Diana," he muttered near her ear, then straightened. Pressed his comm-link. "Batman to Flash."

"Bats, you never told me how hard it is to get a Martian on fire to hold still," Flash lamented immediately. "You need to put a disclaimer in next time."

Batman rolled his eyes, something he would never do if he wasn't feeling so immensely relieved (Not that anyone could see it with his cowl). "And Superman?"

"Accounted for. According to the news, he's just woken up. And I heard from John- Shayera's a little shaken up, but she'll be fine- And I just got contact from Mr. Terrific. Apparently the Watchtower was down for a while?- Something about a bug in the system. but they just got everything up and running again."

"Good."

There was a silence. "Bats... What _happened_?"

Batman felt a certain amount of dread. He had known that this moment was coming but couldn't quite bring himself to say the truth right now. Besides, now that the immediate crisis was over, a different problem was taking over his mind: the mystery of his parents' bodies' location. "I have to get back to Gotham," he said at last, his tone leaving absolutely no room for argument. "We'll discuss this later." A meeting he had no intention of being at. He paused, unsure of whether to add anything else, and then finally said: "Rest up."

He cut the line. And looked down at Diana's unconscious body. The Watchtower communications system he had made extensive plans on how to dismantle would probably have been fixed by now; he would bring her up to the infirmary, and then he would make himself scarce. He couldn't look at her after this, after what he'd done to her. He disgusted himself.

He picked up her body gently to request transport.

**A/N: Duh duh duhhh. So excited, I've got a ton of stuff planned. I know there hasn't been a real ton of BMWW romance and I'm sorry, but it's not working itself in organically into the action at this point. Promise though, it'll come later! R & R guys!**


	9. Chapter 9

**DIANA POV**

She woke up with a gasp.

The heart monitor beside her started beeping rapidly as she took in her surroundings (The Watchtower infirmary), utterly confused. She struggled to remember what had happened.

I was in Gateway City, she thought. And then Cheetah... Something had happened. Cheetah had drugged her?

Diana leaped off the bed and ripped the IV out of her arm. It was then that she noticed J'onn on the bed beside hers, and next to his, Shayera's unconscious body. Before she could draw a conclusion from this, the door opened.

"Diana. You're awake." Superman sounded exhausted, and he didn't look too good himself.

"Kal," she said, feeling stronger now. "What's going on? What happened?"

He turned away to look down at J'onn and Shayera. "I think that's something we'd all like to know," he said darkly. "But, according to Wally, the only person who knows the answer has vanished."

"Vanished?" repeated Diana. "Who? What even happened?"

Superman sighed. "The Justice League was attacked. A coordinated strike, all at roughly the same time. It was meant to take out all the founders." His eyes turned dark, his face furrowing into a scowl. "Except Batman."

"Bruce?" she gasped. "You're not saying what I think you're saying."

"I'm not saying anything," replied Superman. "But he's the only one that knows what happened. Wally and John told me that he helped save us all during the crisis and it was like he knew exactly what was happening to each of us without having been told."

"He's a detective," argued Diana in his defense. "Maybe he found out some other way."

"Maybe. Or maybe there's something he's not telling us."

"But he helped _save_ us, according to you." But Superman didn't look convinced- if anything, even more distrustful. Why couldn't he just have faith in their best friend?

"Yes," admitted Superman, absentmindedly rubbing at his chest where the Kryptonite bullet had nearly killed him.

Thinking of Batman triggered a memory in Diana's mind- she remembered bits and pieces. Fighting Cheetah- Fighting an army of Cheetahs- Fighting Batman-

"Is he okay?" Diana asked urgently. "I wasn't in my right mind, I think I was fighting him, Kal!"

"I'm sure he's fine," Superman said shortly. "According to the med staff, he brought you up here, didn't he?"

He must have finally seen Diana's hurt look, for his own gaze softened and he said, "Diana, I know. When he's not being a complete jerk- he's our best friend. And I know you two have had something going on for a very long time." Diana didn't deny it. "But we have to try to think objectively here, even with him."

Diana looked at him, then shook her head. "I'm still confused about what's going on. We all need to talk."

"Exactly what I was thinking," said Superman. "When the League is done dealing with the collateral damage on Earth, we're having a Founders' meeting."

"Amen to that." Shayera's hoarse voice suddenly piped up from her bed. Diana and Superman gave a start; they hadn't heard her wake up.

"I think I hate flowers," she added.

**BATCAVE- **

"When do you think Bruce'll get back this time?" Barbara asked, as she and Tim hopped out of the Batmobile.

Tim shrugged, removing his domino mask. "Who knows? He's obsessed."

Barbara sighed, worrying over it. Bruce was going crazy over something, having slept only two hours in almost three days. And he was gone for most of it, hunting for clues. He came back at odd hours, speaking harshly to everyone and then being off again. It was most unlike him to give free rein over Gotham to Tim (And Batgirl, if her college schedule allowed).

He hadn't told them why he was gone and what was keeping him, although Tim suspected Alfred knew. However, for the time being the butler was tight-lipped, so it had to be serious.

"Ah, Master Tim, Miss Barbara," said Alfred, entering the Batcave with a steaming tray. "And how was patrol?"

Barbara shrugged. "Fine." Her eyes lit up when she saw the roast beef in the tray. "Alfred, you're beautiful!"

"If only Master Bruce was that enthusiastic for my cuisine," said Alfred, setting the plates down. "Although, he did once call me beautiful."

Barbara and Tim exchanged incredulous looks.

"Although it may be hard to believe, Master Bruce was once a more.. shall we say... open man," Alfred said wryly. "His time and experiences have hardened him- at least on the outside."

"Well, you can't stop there," said Tim, helping himself to some beef. "You have to tell us the story behind why the old man called you beautiful."

"Oh, very well." Alfred opened his mouth to say more, when the Batcycle roared into the cave. Tim actually dropped his roast beef.

"Master Bruce," Alfred called as though his charge hadn't been gone for eighteen straight hours, "Would you care for some roast beef and mashed potatoes?"

"Not now, Alfred," Batman said harshly, striding towards the Batcomputer with such urgency that his cape knocked over the dirt-covered shovel he had wiped for prints some twenty hours earlier. "I've found him."

"Who?" piped up Tim, not really expecting an answer. Surprisingly, he got one.

"Ra's Al Ghul," said Batman. He turned to Alfred. "It was all a distraction, all a distraction for him to use the relic they stole- It's magical backlash has been causing earthquakes in Asia." He pressed a few buttons on his computer. "I saw it on the news, but I was too distracted by... the other events to really think about it. A few interrogations and a cross-referencing of the patterns of earthquakes, and I found his location." He paused. "And I think... I think _they_ might be there too."

Barbara and Tim had no idea who he was talking about, but Alfred seemed to. Quietly, Alfred said, with no trace of his trademark wryness, "Do you think, sir?"

Batman's voice wavered, almost becoming Bruce's for a moment. "I hope."

Barbara and Tim exchanged curious glances.

"Batman," called Barbara as Batman made to get in the Batplane. "What's going on? Are you going to be gone from Gotham?"

"Yes," Batman said shortly. "Tim, can you handle patrol for a while?" Tim could tell it hurt him to say this- Batman almost never relinquished his utter control over patrol. The fact that he was now told just how serious this mysterious _situation _was that Gotham had become second priority.

"Yeah," Tim said eagerly nevertheless. He wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Batman jumped in the cockpit, paused. "If you need help, call Nightwing."

Yeah, because the proud old man would never do that himself, Tim thought.

As the cockpit closed, Batman got a call on his commlink. He felt a wave of frustration. He didn't have time for this. "Talk," he said tersely.

"It's Superman," said Superman unnecessarily.

Batman started his pre-flight checks. "What."

"We're having a Founders meeting. Right now. It's urgent."

Batman flicked a couple more switches. "Can't."

"No!" Superman suddenly yelled into his ear. Batman almost gave a start at Clark's anger. "We deserve _answers_ about what happened to us. And you're _going_ to give them."

It was true, but Bruce Wayne's gut twisted in dread at the thought of telling the horrible truth to his friends; and seeing any trust they might have had for him die from their eyes forever. He heard Batman say in the comlink, "I'm busy." This was true also- the business with Ra's Al Ghul was important. And, though he was loathe to admit it, he was scared to death of what Ra's might do with his parents' bodies. All the power was in Ra's hands right now, and Batman hated it.

"You're not too busy for this."

"Actually, I am. There's a reason I'm a part-timer." Batman made sure his tone left no room for argument.

"Br-"

"Batman out." He switched off the comlink and prepared to take off.

Just as he was about to move the plane, he felt a curious tingling in his body. He paused, unsure. It was the sort of tingling that happened right before his molecules were scrambled and rearranged upon teleportation to the Watchtower...

_No_, he thought with disbelief. _They wouldn't go that far_. But the evidence pointed to the contrary. He was being transported against his will to the Watchtower. In the two seconds he had before it happened, he belatedly realized that he hadn't fully understood the extent of Superman's anger until now, and with that knowledge he began to feel his own make a comeback. They dared cross him? His fists tightened around the controls of the Batplane.

As he mentally prepared himself for the inevitable confrontation, there was only one thing he knew with absolute, gut-wrenching certainty:

After this, things would never be the same.

**A/N: I'm the first to admit, this is a bit of a filler chapter. But next is the Founders Meeting. Should be fun and games for all involved. Just kidding, it's gonna _suck_ for Batman. -rubs hands together- mwahaha. Good luck Brucey.**

**Anyway, I would love it if you left a review! I so love reading them!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: In this highly anticipated episode of Batsy vs. The Justice League... lol enjoy!**

**DIANA POV**

Diana drummed her fingers nervously against the table. The other five Founders with her sat fidgeting in their own ways; the room was thick with tension.

The door opened and Superman and Batman walked in. Superman looked upset, his brow furrowed; Batman, predictably, had his poker face on. Diana couldn't help but notice he seemed to be favouring his right side very, very slightly, and wondered guiltily if she had caused that injury when she'd been fighting him.

He took his seat next to her, not looking in her direction at all. Superman took up his position at the head of the table but didn't sit, choosing rather to place his hands on the surface and lean over it.

_Asserting power_, Diana noted. Batman wasn't the only one who could play mind games.

Superman cleared his throat and began what could only be described as a professional tone, one at odds with his body language. "I'm calling this meeting to order... We're here together for the first time since the attack. I want to hear a debriefing from everyone at this table about what happened to them. Then we can compare and go forward from there." Diana watched Batman from the corner of her eye through this entire spiel- he was completely rigid, not unlike how he used to be at these meetings at the very beginnings of the Justice League.

"I'll go first," Superman added, his voice deceptively calm. "I was tricked into trying to talk a man out of suicide- he had a gun to his head, but he shot me instead. It was a Kryptonite bullet, straight to the chest." He tapped the area for effect. "I was out for the count, but I was told by personnel at the scene later that they were finally able to operate on me after Flash" he nodded his head in gratitude- "showed up with a Kryptonite scalpel, and they managed to extract the bullet before it nearly killed me. The man who shot me was apprehended by police and has stated he was anonymously paid off to do it, and agreed to the task only because he thought it was a regular bullet that wouldn't hurt me and he needed the money. He's in jail for further questioning though." Superman took a deep breath. "Diana?"

"Right," Diana took off, "I don't remember a lot, but when I was down there helping to clean up-" Her voice reflected her genuine guilt, and she saw Batman's mouth tighten at it- "I heard from a lot of first-hand witnesses, so I was able to piece together what happened. I was fighting Cheetah and she distracted me and put some sort of device in my ear that tricked my senses into thinking everyone I saw was Cheetah." She looked down at her hands, hands that had hurt so many people that day. "I was nearing exhaustion fighting them all, when Batman arrived and snapped me out of it, even though I thought he was Cheetah as well and fought him too." She looked at him apologetically. "Sorry."

Batman's tight expression fell away for a millisecond, revealing a jumble of emotions she couldn't read before being wiped away once again; nobody but Diana seemed to notice this because they were too busy glaring at him.

"Flash?" Superman requested.

"Right," Flash said. "Mirror Master got some sort of weird bomb on my wrist. I had to run so it wouldn't explode on a train full of people, but once I started running, I couldn't stop or it would explode on _me_. So that kinda sucked," he surmised. Shayera sighed loudly, prompting the youngest Founder to continue. "Bats here gave me the idea to run through an iceberg and leave it there, and it might slow the thing down enough for me to get to a safe distance."

"Hold on- _run_ through an iceberg?" Shayera said with a touch of incredulousness.

Flash waved his arms around. "You know- vibrate through. Anyway, it worked. Obviously." He leaned back.

"Thank you, Wally," Superman said. "J'onn?"

J'onn looked at his teammates solemnly. "Clayface in disguise poisoned me with magnesium carbonate..." he trailed off, seeing some confused expressions on his teammates' faces, with the exception of Batman. "That compound is deadly for Martian physiology," he explained. "My body attempted to flush out the poison by sweating the magnesium out, but Clayface then set me on fire. It reacted with the magnesium and I- with my weakness of fire- was burning alive. Luckily, before my strength gave out Flash injected me with aluminum oxide, which neutralized the magnesium." He looked at Flash with gratitude. Flash grinned in response.

"My turn," said John rather impatiently. "I still don't understand why, but I was blinded by my ring somehow. My ring can't create things if I can't see them, so when I was attacked, I had to fall back on my military training." He paused in thought. "I was still holding my own."

Shayera snickered. "All right, John. You're an amazing fighter who belongs in the UFC. Get on with it." John glared at her for a moment.

_They're perfect together_, Diana thought with brief amusement despite the tense situation brewing.

"Anyway," continued John as if his ex hadn't spoken, "Batman here suggested that I _will_ myself to see again. And so I did. But I don't understand _how_."

"It was a post-hypnotic suggestion," said Batman, speaking for the first time since entering the room. Flash jumped at the mechanical sound of his voice. "Made to you by someone while you were asleep, wearing your ring. Subconsciously your will followed that suggestion, and because your ring enforces your will, it made you believe you were blind."

John folded his arms. "_You_ seem to know a lot about it-."

"Enough, John," Superman cut him off.

John shot an angry look at Superman. "What? Come on, you know he knows something! He's not innocent in this!"

"I know that, John," Superman said. "Batman _will_ answer to us. I just want Shayera to have her say first."

Diana glanced at Batman. He stared stoically straight ahead as if he hadn't heard it, but Diana was also curious as to just what Bruce had known about the attacks.

Shayera took a deep breath, and Diana was surprised to hear its unsteadiness. "I inhaled some sort of fear gas," she said, and her eyes took on a somewhat distant look, haunted by the horrors of whatever she had seen. "I saw my... my worst nightmares. It was like when Doctor Destiny had me trapped in a dream, but worse." She shuddered. "John injected me with some antidote that Batman gave him. I was panicking so much that I was near cardiac arrest, and that's saying something for a Thanagarian. We're built strong." She said this last sentence like she didn't believe she should belong with that group.

"But not without vulnerability, just like everyone else," John said quietly. Shayera gave him a brief, sad smile.

"The attacks were ingenious," J'onn spoke up again. "Designed to target our specific mental and physiological weaknesses. All of us were attacked except you, Batman, which is why-"

"I _was_ attacked," Batman interrupted with irritation. "I just got out of it quicker than the rest of you."

"What happened to _you_?" Diana exclaimed. This was news to her. She shot a look at Superman, who looked equally surprised and shrugged.

There was a slight hesitation before Batman replied dismissively, "It doesn't matter."

"It _does_," Diana persisted, worry creeping over her. What could have brought down the Bat? Any multitude of things, she supposed; it was very easy to forget that he was a mortal man. But if it was anything like the tactics used to bring down the rest of them, it had hit his vulnerabilities and hit them hard.

However, her point was lost from the discussion when Lantern said, "That still doesn't explain how you knew everything that was happening to us." There were noises of agreement around the table. Diana was inclined to agree.

"Ra's Al Ghul," Batman began slowly, "is the one behind all this. He is the one that exploited our weaknesses, hoping to kill us but expecting it to distract us from catching the signs of his using the relic that was stolen from the museum in Metropolis. In twenty four hours, he'll have unleashed it. He's using it to-"

"Bruce," demanded Superman, leaning over even further. "Answer. John's. Question."

Batman regarded Superman with a tight expression, the white lenses of his cowl giving nothing away. However, those that knew him best- some of whom were around this table- could read his slightest facial movements, and saw him seem to struggle internally with himself for several moments. Then, abruptly, Diana saw a multitude of things flicker over his face: a decision being made, then a barely-there wave of resignation, followed by a jaw set in determination. And finally, his ice-cold poker face was back. "Ra's Al Ghul stole the plans that detailed how to take you out... from me," he said abruptly.

"What?" Diana gasped, unable to believe what she was hearing. She heard her sentiments being echoed around the table. Superman finally collapsed into his chair and ran a hand over his face.

There was a silence as the team tried to absorb this information- Batman, one of the Original Seven, had plotted against them. As Diana began to get over her shock, she felt anger begin to creep through her veins, along with hurt.

"Bruce... _why_?" she said, unable to keep the emotion of her voice.

He turned his head to look at her, and his jaw might as well have been part of his cowl for all the emotion it showed now. "The members of the Justice League," he said mechanically, "As a group, are far too dangerous to lack a failsafe against possible misuse of our power."

More indignant exclamations followed that remark. "We use our power to protect the world," Diana angrily refuted.

"And what if we didn't?" Batman replied coolly. "Remember the Justice Lords?"

"Aw man, not the _Justice Lords_ argument again!" Flash piped up exasperatedly.

"All right. Remember the lunar crystal that possessed everybody here with an evil snake spirit, except you?" Batman fired back. "I seem to remember you saying how _scary_ it was when five of the most powerful beings on the planet were suddenly after your head." Flash paled.

Superman spoke. "Regardless, you didn't trust us with this information? This is serious, Bruce. This is something that should have been discussed as team, rather than just _you_ in your cave, deciding that you're _right_ all the time!"

"It would defeat the entire purpose if you were told there were contingencies for your betrayal," Batman pointed out.

"But making plans to kill us? I thought _the Batman_ didn't kill," Shayera mocked.

"I don't," stated Batman flatly.

"A Kryptonite bullet, Bruce?" Superman said with disbelief.

Batman gave him a bland look and replied, "Your weakness to Kryptonite is rather well known. It doesn't take a lot of imagination for a super villain to dream something like that up. Besides, my protocols were designed to incapacitate if necessary, not kill. They were altered to meet Ra's goals." Shayera settled back in her chair.

"And that makes me feel so much better," Lantern said, enraged. "You could have consulted. You can't make decisions for the Justice League based on your own opinion! Look at you, scheming to kill us while sitting in our midst! You're truly heartless, aren't you?"

There was a brief silence, as the white lenses of Batman's cowl widened for an instant. He recovered quickly, but Diana, seething inside, couldn't find it in herself to feel bad for him.

"Shayera did the same thing, a long time ago," Batman pointed out finally. There was a pause as everyone remembered Hawkgirl's betrayal and how she had helped the Thanagarians exploited their weaknesses. In saying Batman was heartless for observing their vulnerabilities, he was saying _she_ was too. John looked slightly taken aback, while Shayera's head dropped slightly in shame.

"Batman," said J'onn after a few moments. "Shayera learned from her mistakes. What she did was wrong. You also cannot deny that what _you_ did was wrong. Do you have anything else to say in defense?"

"I don't _need_ a defense," Batman said. "My contingencies are completely justified. I would do it again."

"Oh, come on!" complained Flash. J'onn sighed and rubbed his temples. Superman looked incensed, John indignant. Shayera glared. Diana felt her own anger express itself on her face. How dare he? After the years that they had spent knowing each other, try to destroy them? Try to destroy _her_? And to think she was willing to give her _heart_ to him.

Diana slammed her hand down on the table, leaving a dent. "You're not even sorry?"

He looked at her directly, and she saw her own reflection in his blank lenses. "It was necessary. The breach was just... unfortunate."

Her heart plummeted.

Flash spoke again, slowly. "I'm not sure I have a problem with the plans themselves. But letting them get _stolen_ was pretty stupid." Batman didn't deny it, Diana noticed.

"This is serious," said Superman finally. He looked up, and Diana saw quiet determination amidst the anger that had been there. "A serious breach of our trust, regardless of his reasons."

"And he's not even sorry he did it!" John interjected.

"We need to examine whether Batman should remain in the League," Superman announced to the group. "And I think we should put it to a vote to the six of us, Founders."

Diana's heart jumped, suddenly frantic. She wasn't ready to decide- she couldn't make a choice yet-

"I think he should be out," John spat. "He betrayed us."

"This is true," mused J'onn quietly.

Diana didn't know what to think. On the one hand, John was right. Bruce had betrayed them all, and without an ounce of remorse. But on the other hand, she was suddenly faced with a possible reality of never seeing this man again- and despite all her anger, she hesitated at the thought.

Batman stood abruptly. "This is ridiculous," he seethed. "You're wasting time on diplomatic matters while Ra's Al Ghul and his group of criminals plan to unleash the power of that relic's black magic on the world as we speak. _This_ is not a priority.

"If you people can't see the ramifications of an out-of-control Justice League, I don't need to wait for a vote. I'm obviously not one of you- I'm out." And without another word, the Dark Knight strode out of the door.

There was a complete and utter silence.

After a moment or two, Flash blew air from his nose and sighed. "Bye, Bats," he said in a melancholy sort of way, to no one in particular.

**BATMAN POV**

He was shaking from the effort not to show emotion. It had taken all his willpower to remain stoic and unaffected while in the Watchtower, but after a puzzled Mr. Terrific transported him to the Batcave, his control fell apart.

He fell onto his chair and put his head in his hands.

When he'd been transported, he'd considered turning around and going right back. But Clark had stood there, a few feet away, his expression a hard glare that had given the Dark Knight pause. Not because he was intimidated by Superman, but rather because he came to realize this confrontation was going to happen at some point, so he might as well get it over with.

Looking back though, that probably hadn't been the best choice. They were all still emotional from what had happened and weren't able to look at it objectively enough.

Superman had been just as angry as he predicted- perhaps angrier. He wouldn't even listen to his warnings about Ra's. Another problem he would have to deal with himself, but he was fine with that.

And then he had to go in there and see all their accusing eyes and listen to their horror stories that made his teeth clench... Did they think that it was _easy_ for him to hear it? It had brought so much more pain to his already overloaded psyche. Then Diana had apologized- _apologized_!- to him, as if it were _her_ fault she'd been terrorizing Gateway City.

And then he'd told the truth. Because they deserved to know it, even though he knew that they would never see him as a friend again.

He hadn't wanted to, but he looked directly at Diana when he didn't say he was sorry. The Batman in him wanted Bruce to see Diana's hurt and anger. It was a sick satisfaction, to show _See? This is what happens when you get too close._

Despite his grief over the loss of his friends, he knew it was his own doing. It was his own fault. Just like everything else. But even with that horrible knowledge, he still stood by his protocols.

Which was why he left them- or at least, part of the reason. The other part was because he was a coward- he couldn't stand the humiliation of having them vote him out. And he'd been quite certain- Superman, John, J'onn, perhaps Shayera would have voted against him. Flash had seemed on the fence... but Diana? He could see it in her eyes, she had been about to reject him as well.

As she should, he reflected.

"Master Bruce?" asked Alfred from behind him tentatively. When Batman didn't respond, the butler continued. "We were most perplexed when you disappeared from the Batwing, sir. May I ask what happened?"

Silently, he pulled himself together. "You can _ask_," said Batman irritably finally, lifting his head from his hands. Alfred would probably find out the truth by himself, the wily old man. "I've got to go. I need to try and stop Ra's before he tries to use the black magic. I have a feeling I know what he's using it for, and limited time to stop him." He was glad he had a new problem to latch onto to distract himself: find Ra's. Make him tell Batman where Bruce's parents were. He tapped some keys on the computer, bringing up the map of Southern Asia he had been pouring over earlier.

Alfred regarded him seriously, but dropped it. "Perhaps you should rest for some time first, sir? I can count on one hand the number of hours you seem to have slept in the past week-"

"Send the news out, Alfred," Batman called as the Batwing revved to life. "Bruce Wayne is going on a vacation to- I don't know, Jamaica-for a couple of days."

Alfred could only watch his angry charge climb into the plane. He remembered the mention of being buried alive and sighed to himself. Such a traumatic event, and yet the younger man seemed almost unaffected. Either he was too strong-willed to let that break him, or he was already so broken it didn't make a difference.

But Alfred knew it wasn't _either_ of those; it was both. The young Master was a study of contradictions.

"If only you took a _fifth_ of the vacations you pretend to be on," Alfred muttered as he left the Batcave.

**A/N: Would love to hear your thoughts. Or read, as the case may be. :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Wow, 100+ reviews?! I love you guys!**

**I got some comments about the last chapter and how certain Founders seemed to react to the news. Well let me just tell you this, that chapter was from Bruce's and Diana's perspectives, meaning that's not necessarily what those characters felt, just what Bruce and Diana saw. And of course Bruce would see everybody to be against him :P I think you'll see as the story goes on and when emotions aren't running so high, that some of the Founders might start being more outwardly understanding.**

**INDIA~ HOURS BEFORE FOUNDERS' MEETING**

"We failed," said Mirror Master angrily. "You promised this would work! That they would be destroyed!"

Ra's looked calmly around him at the incensed group of villains: Cheetah, Ultra-Humanite, Clayface, Mirror Master, Sinestro. "Now, now," he said cordially. "I never said they would be destroyed, as a fact. I hoped, but I also knew that the Detective is not to be underestimated. Of course he would have countermeasures to his countermeasures."

"You knew this would happen?" demanded Sinestro, slamming his hand down on the table. "And yet you sent us on this useless mission anyway?"

Ra's leaned back in his chair. "That's where you are wrong, my friend," he replied. "It wasn't useless; in fact, on the contrary we have achieved something great."

"Oh? What's that? To make the Justice League extremely pissed off?" Cheetah snorted.

"Yes," said Ra's, catching them all off guard. Before Cheetah could say more, he continued. "At the Detective." Seeing the confused looks on their faces (with the exception of the Ultra-Humanite, who had caught on and was now nodding his head thoughtfully), he elaborated. "The Detective is the main intelligence of the League. By now, I am rather certain that they have realized that the Batman is behind all this, and he has been isolated. Without him, the League is weaker. Without them, the Detective is shaken."

"What's the point?" Mirror Master asked.

"_That's_ the thing," Ra's said. "I've payed you all in full, haven't I?"

The others nodded their heads uncertainly. Before Ra's could get to his next point, the door slammed open and Talia Al Ghul walked in.

Ra's spared his daughter a cursory glance. "Good of you to join us, my dear-"

"May I have a word, Father?" Talia said through clenched teeth. Her fists were balled up; the question was more of a demand.

"No," said Ra's. He didn't have time at the moment for Talia's hurt feelings. "As I was saying, Mirror Master-"

"How could you do it?" interrupted Talia, storming up to her father's chair. Her anger gave way to sadness, betrayal even. "Why would you try to kill my Beloved? You promised me," she whispered, somewhat pathetically.

Ra's shot her a glare. "You are weak, Talia," he said coldly. "The Detective has refused our invitations to join us time and time again. He is our enemy, yet you cannot let go of dreams of the past. We cannot allow him to get in our way any longer."

"But _Father_," Talia cried.

Ra's cut her off. "There is no point to your hurt rambling because he did not die anyway. Make yourself useful and rally a guard around the fortress. We will need a strong defense if the resourceful Detective decides to come our way." He paused and returned his attention to his audience and this time, Talia did not interrupt again.

"Well, now you may choose to walk away, or join me in my greatest plan yet. A plan that the Justice League, in their weakened and distracted state, will be unable to stop."

"And what's that?" asked Clayface curiously.

"It's a plan that I have tried before, but now that I have powerful magic on my side, it will become a reality this time," said Ra's with a slightly maddened smile. "Do you know anything about the Lazarus Pits, my friends?..."

**BATMAN POV~ PRESENT**

The tropical forests of India were absolutely _sweltering_.

Not that Batman noticed. He had far too many other distractions on mind right now. Like the new stab wound in his arm, and the rib Diana had broken that had now been hit again by a common thug. Well, not a common thug- The League of Assassins could hardly be called anything but professional. Good thing Batman was a _legendary_ professional.

Still, even he could acknowledge as he took down another group of masked assassins that he was getting slower. The stress of recent events was catching up with him. But the more groups of assassins he encountered around this building, the more apparent it became that his investigations had been a success; he had found the Al Ghul's stronghold; disguised well, built into the mountain. It was rather scenic for Batman's tastes, surrounded by lush forest and bordered by a cascading waterfall that fell off the mountain's rock face.

He twisted the last one standing into an armlock and calmly broke his arm. A strangled scream escaped the assassin's throat.

Batman smiled grimly; he recognized the sadist monster in him that had taken full control and welcomed its presence as a tool. "Tell me where the Demon is," he said quietly into the man's ear, "If you want to walk away from this."

The man gasped in pain but finally spoke with admirable defiance: "You're bluffing. You don't kill."

"You won't die today," Batman agreed. "But you won't _walk_ away. You'll crawl... if you're lucky." With this he seized the man's leg and prepared to break his fibula.

The man gulped in another desperate breath. "All right!" He screamed.

Batman did not let go of his leg. "Talk."

The assassin did.

**DIANA POV**

The discussion in the Founder's Meeting had been several hours ago, but everything said in its duration kept echoing through Diana's head. And all of Batman's emotionless yet ruthless words, and all the words he didn't say out loud, coursed through her heart angrily with every beat. She was angry with Bruce, no doubt. But would she have voted him out? She told herself she would've, but she didn't really know.

She sat with Superman and J'onn now, having a different discussion.

"Regardless of our feelings for Batman, the fact remains that the relic's magic is being used," said J'onn to the other two incensed metas.

_Yes_, thought Diana bitterly. _Regardless of our feelings for Batman_.

Superman's brow was furrowed. "I know, I know. we need to stop Al Ghul. The world's more important than our internal feuds."

"Then why'd you stop _him_ from telling us more about it?" asked Diana, unable to help herself. "How are we going to know what to do? Only _he_ knew what was going on."

"I know," Superman repeated tiredly. Diana realized that he was possibly even more affected by Bruce's betrayal than she; after all, they had known each other longer. But Superman was a leader and could not show that kind of emotion in front of the group. She felt suddenly awful that she had been so focused on herself.

She put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Kal."

He looked up.

She smiled; a smile that, she'd been told once by a little girl, lit up the whole world. "We'll figure it out."

His brows unknitted just a little bit.

"There is a possibility," J'onn said suddenly.

The moment forgotten, Superman was instantly alert and in leader-mode. "What's that, J'onn?"

"We could go to his home," J'onn said. When Diana and Superman looked confused, the Martian elaborated. "Br- Batman's home. Do you remember his butler, Diana?"

Unwillingly, Diana's mouth was pulled into a small smile at the memory. After the Thanagarian invasion, she and J'onn had spent several days in Wayne Manor while Bruce was arranging more permanent accommodations for them. In that time, they had gotten to know Alfred rather well. Diana was rather sad to leave the place, actually, but had not wanted to intrude. She hadn't been back since.

"Perhaps he knows what Batman did not tell us," Diana finished the thought that J'onn was thinking. "He always did seem a step ahead, didn't he?"

"Yes," agreed J'onn.

Superman pondered it for a moment. He had only met Alfred a handful of times- Bruce was very protective about his surrogate family- but it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. And if Bruce was still in the Batcave, they could talk to him instead. "Let's go," he decided.

Two minutes later, with the curious eyes of several Leaguers watching them- rumours of Founder meeting drama spread fast- the three of them had been transported to the Batcave.

Diana had to blink her eyes a few times to adjust to the darkness. When she did, she was greeted with the sight of softly glowing computer screens, machines, and Batman's collection of trinkets. It was a comforting sight somehow, the home of Batman.

She didn't want to think about the psychology behind that.

"Oh, it's you."

The three heroes looked up, only to see a boy drop down from the darkness of the ceiling. He was dressed in red and wore a domino mask- one of Batman's sons, Robin, Diana realized.

"You should really call before you just barge in," the boy said conversationally as he rose from his crouch and pocketed what looked like a Batarang. "Bruce doesn't like visitors." He paused. "He doesn't like anyone, really."

"Hello, Tim," said Superman with a genuine smile. "Haven't seen you in a long time."

Tim grinned. "That's your fault. When Bruce _isn't_ being controlled by Brainiac's nanotech, you never come by." His gaze shifted to J'onn and Diana. "Wow. I've only ever seen you two on TV." He squinted at Diana. "You're really pretty. I can see why the old man has a crush on you."

Diana was taken aback, but the boy continued on as if he hadn't just dropped an Easter Egg. "What brings you here, anyway? Batman's gone. The only people here are me and Alfred." As if summoned, the butler himself quietly materialized from the bottom of the Batcave's stairs.

He inclined his head politely. "Mister Kent. Mister Jonzz. Your Highness," he addressed each one of them individually. Diana, Superman and J'onn awkwardly stood there, each keenly aware that Bruce's family had no idea that Batman and the Justice League had parted ways.

Superman cleared his throat. "I wish we could stay here and catch up, but we need to find out something from you." He looked at Tim and Alfred in turn. "Do either of you know where Batman went, or about Ra's Al Ghul's plans?"

Tim and Alfred looked at each other for a moment. Then Tim shrugged. "_I_ don't want to suffer Bruce's wrath, and besides, I have to go back on patrol. _You_ tell 'em, Alfred." And with that, the young Robin disappeared back into the darkness of the Batcave.

"Thank you, Master Tim," said Alfred wryly. His sharp eyes fell back on Diana and the other two. "Master Bruce left his computer on, dear me," he said to them.

"What?" asked Superman, puzzled.

"Master Bruce left his computer on," Alfred repeated, inclining his head to the softly glowing screens of the massive Batcomputer.

It clicked in Diana's head. "Oh," she said, striding forward. The images on the computer's main screen slid into focus. A heavily marked map of Asia was displayed, with a series of curved lines cascading over one another superimposed on the landmass.

Her eyes followed the lines, and were drawn to a place where all the lines intersected. "Here!" she exclaimed, jabbing her finger at the screen. "That's where we'll find him."

"Well done, Your Highness," said Alfred with a hint of admiration in his voice. Then his tone became more serious. "If you wouldn't mind, please make haste. I do fear for that stubborn man sometimes."

The three heroes exchanged guilty looks.

"We'll do what we can, Alfred," Superman spoke up hesitantly. "Thanks for your help."

Alfred nodded his head, then turned smartly on the heel and strode away.

**BATMAN POV**

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Batman growled, and knocked the assassin out with one precise blow to the head. He'd gotten all the information he needed. The lower-level assasin was not in Ra's inner circle and as such didn't know the Demon's bigger plans. Smart move on the part of Ra's.

However, Batman had heard enough to understand the location of the relic and to glean that Ra's was raising a Lazarus Pit here- There was no natural Lazarus Pit in this area. It was just a confirmation of his suspicions; Ra's never settled far from a Pit.

As his victim slumped forward, Batman felt the presence of another behind him. He allowed them to try to sneak up on him. It was a good attempt on their part, but Batman could sense the roar of the waterfall dim in his ears just a little bit as the would-be assassin loomed.

At the last second, Batman's arm came up in a swift backfist. He felt it hit the person in the face and heard them fly backwards. He smiled grimly. That trick was always fun.

He turned around, but was surprised to see that the crumpled man in uniform wasn't the only presence in the clearing.

Cheetah. The real one.

His glare narrowed. She grinned, baring her wickedly sharp teeth.

"Hello, Batman," she said. "Too bad Wonder Woman didn't beat you."

"True, but she beat about a thousand of _you_," Batman retorted with a smirk. The two began to circle each other slowly, sizing each other up. Batman knew he had to be smart with this fight- he was fighting a meta, and in a weakened state.

Cheetah snarled at the jab, but her expression quickly turned again into a grin. "I'm amazed that such a _little toy_ could make Wonder Woman go so insane," she purred. "But it was made by you, wasn't it? All I had to do was slap it in her ear."

Batman didn't rise to the bait. She continued.

"Does it bother you at all?" she asked. She put her fingers together and began to casually sharpen her long nails. "That you brought about all that destruction?"

Batman didn't answer that but brought up a question of his own. "Why are you working for Ra's Al Ghul?"

"Why else? We would get to see our greatest nemesis killed..." Her eyes narrowed. "That didn't work out to well, thanks to you... But he gave us money, too."

"Yes," said Batman. "You always needed the money, didn't you?"

Her expression darkened at the memory Batman had successfully brought forward. "I thought you had some sort of heart, Batman," she said. "You listened to my story and seemed to understand, once. But now I see the rumours are really true. You couldn't care less that you almost destroyed the Justice League. You're just like us."

Batman didn't let any of that affect his overall demeanor. "I'm glad you're finally catching on... Dr. Minerva."

Cheetah's eyes widened slightly at being called her human name, the name she held before being mutated. And at the same time, insulting her with the humiliating remembrance of her failed days as a scientist. "You'll pay!" she spat, leaping at him.

At the same time, Batman threw a curved batarang with a flick of the wrist. It flew past her.

Her brows shot up; anger momentarily forgotten as she took a swipe at him, which he dodged. "You missed."

Batman retaliated with a well placed strike to her side. "I don't miss."

With that, the boomerang-shaped object flew back through the air and hit Cheetah on the side of the head. She staggered, momentarily disengaged. Batman pressed his advantage.

He jumped and planted a two-footed kick to her stomach, throwing her backwards. With a true feline grace, she managed to stop her momentum from causing her to fall back into the waterfall.

Growling, she leaped on him. Her sheer strength made Batman fall onto his back. She had his arms pinned.

She was too strong. But strength wasn't everything.

One of Batman's legs swung up and hooked around her neck. Rolling, he swung their positions around so that _she_ was on the ground, held down at the throat by his boot. He raised his fist, going for the knock-out blow.

She caught it and threw him back.

Maybe he could have prevented what happened next if he wasn't so sore and bleeding and exhausted. He landed on his hands and flipped back onto his feet, just in time to see her tail snake around his neck. Before he could even react, she was adding to his backwards momentum, throwing him into another backflip...

He fell into the abyss of the waterfall.

**A/N: *cough* you should totally leave a review *cough***


	12. Chapter 12

**AL GHUL'S FORTRESS**

Ra's Al Ghul surveyed the Lazarus Pit being created by the relic.

All was going well so far; the Justice League had not yet caught on to his plans. By the time they got here, his work would be done.

He smiled to himself. Perhaps the Detective had been able to stop him before, but back then, there had been a limited number of Lazarus Pits with which to flood the world. With the relic's powerful Chaos magic, Ra's could create many Lazarus Pits wherever he wanted in the world- then unleash their full power on the masses.

Before the sun rose, all his dreams would be realized, and the utopia that was Earth would finally be freed from the greedy hands of mankind.

The Detective might already know this, Ra's acknowledged. But without the might of the League behind him, he would not be able to stop the plan in this late stage on his own.

"Well? Did you find him?" Ra's demanded, turning to face the two assassins who had just entered the room. They bowed immediately.

"The Cheetah woman killed him," one reported. "She threw the Batman over the edge of the waterfall."

Ra's stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Was the body recovered?"

There was a pause. Then: "No."

"Then he's still alive," snapped Ra's. "How many times do I have to tell you not to underestimate him?" He addressed the second assassin. "You there!"

He looked startled at being talked to directly but nonetheless stood to attention.

"Mobilize another group and search for him. Do not rest until you do. And have the guard around the perimeter doubled. I want him found." Ra's turned away again, dismissing them.

"Right away," the first assassin assured, and the two of them left hastily.

**BATMAN POV**

The second assassin hurried down the hall. Damn it, he was sore. After Cheetah had thrown him over the waterfall, he had barely managed to grapple away from his death and climb his way back up the rock face. He had been bleeding profusely at that point and upon feeling faint, had been forced to crudely cauterize his stab wound before moving on.

The best way to get in now was the path of least resistance, which was why he had donned the unconscious assassin's clothing over top his armour, pulled his cowl down and the assassin's mask on, and blended in.

Now, Batman was doubling back to the Lazarus Pit room. He had to be sneaky about it, as Ra's would see him coming for the relic a mile away.

It was fascinating, really, what Ra's planned to do. It was Project Orpheus all over again, but no satellite required. With the Chaos magic, Ra's could create Lazarus Pits in key areas and cause them to overflow. It would be difficult to stop once the process was started. Which was why Batman needed to get the relic out of the picture first.

And to think no one understood why he hated magic.

"What are you doing?"

Batman stopped and turned around. Talia Al Ghul stood several feet behind him in the hallway, hands on her hips.

"Patrolling," he said with a bow, changing his voice to have the same accent as the assassin he had interrogated. Talia. He couldn't believe that he had trusted her, especially after that shoddy story about how Ra's was after her. He had known something was fishy about that- Ra's wouldn't just assume she was dead, he would have made sure.

Talia's glare was suspicious now. She walked forward. "I do not recall ever meeting you. What is your name?"

Batman really had no idea, so he took a chance. "I have no name, I do the work of the Demon."

Talia's eyes pierced his, and a moment later, her glare fell away. "Beloved!" she whispered. "I thought it was you. You hide your face and speak like our assassins, but I would recognize your lovely blue eyes anywhere."

Dammit. He really needed to invest in colour contacts if his eyes were really that recognizable. Or maybe Talia was just smart.

In seconds he had thrown enough batarangs to have her pinned against the wall by her clothes. She didn't resist, didn't even struggle when he pulled out a canister of knock out gas.

"I can help you get in," she said breathlessly. He paused.

"Why would you help me now?" He growled, narrowing his gaze. She seemed unfazed.

"My father was going to kill you," she said. "Believe me or don't believe me, but I cannot side with the man that lies to me, not anymore." She paused. "The wall beside the second door on the left is fake. Press the darkest brick and a door will reveal itself and will bring you straight back to the Lazarus Pit. In arm's reach of the relic."

Batman looked into her eyes, searching hard. She looked steadily back at him. Her gaze was genuine, not seducing, not fleeting like before.

She was telling the truth, he decided. Still holding her gaze, he opened the canister of knockout gas and held it in front of her nose. She inhaled, coughed, and fell silent within moments, her head drooping down to her chest.

Batman cautiously followed the directions Talia had given, and found the bricks moved aside with a heavy slide to reveal another door. It swung open at his touch. It was too easy...

He once again surveyed his surroundings. It was a large, expansive room, computers and tech in one corner, with many workers milling about the place.

The middle of the scene was really what concerned him. The Hindu relic, a very unassuming statue of a many-armed, blue goddess whom Batman, with his extensive knowledge, knew was Kali, the goddess of destruction and rebirth...

Yeah, he should have seen the signs of Ra's Al Ghul behind this.

The relic emitted an odd sort of light, floating gently above the Lazarus Pit that Ra's had created. The only thing he could think of at the moment was to take it out.

He had to admit to himself that most of his hatred of magic came from the fact that it wasn't scientific- not easily understandable. He found himself wishing for a moment that a magician from the league was here- Dr. Fate would be most suited to dealing with Chaos magic.

As he took a step forward, just feet away from the Pit, he noticed something else- Ra's was nowhere to be seen. His heart jumped.

Ra's would never just abandon his little project to the hands of his workers. No, he would be in this room the whole time, which meant if he wasn't in Batman's line of sight-

He swung around, just in time to avoid a hypodermic dart. It made a quiet little _schick_ sound as it zoomed past him.

"Well done," said Ra's, almost admiringly. He stood where Batman's blind spot had previously been, cloaked in shadows and loosely holding a hypodermic dart gun and a remote in one hand.

Batman knew his cover was up and widened his stance. Talia had tricked him... And he'd been so _sure_ this time...

"Who are you?" Ra's asked curiously. "The Detective? I imagine it must be you. No one else would be able to find this door."

Batman hesitated internally. Talia's information _wasn't_ Ra's doing? He didn't dwell on it, but calculated whether he could grab the relic before Ra's could stop him. He decided he could, and leaped for it.

His fingers brushed against the statue- and suddenly a huge shock went through him. With a pained yell, he was thrown back and hit the wall violently with a thud.

Ra's observed him groaning and slumped on the floor with amusement. "You didn't think it would be _that_ easy, did you?" Swiftly, Ra's pulled Batman's head wrappings off, revealing Bruce Wayne's glaring face.

Bruce reached behind him and pulled the cowl attached to his suit back on. "With _you_ involved, it usually isn't," he acknowledged.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Detective?" replied Ra's. Even as he spoke, a group of assassins was clustering around them; and now, emerging from somewhere unknown, the metas of the Injustice Gang. "It's fitting that you're here to witness my greatest plan yet." He paused.

"And your least original," Batman ground out between clenched teeth. How did he keep hitting the same broken rib over and over again?

Ra's chose to ignore that comment. "Isn't it wonderful? The magic will replicate whatever I choose, in this case the chemicals of the Lazarus Pit, and _wher_ever I choose. Anywhere. Tokyo, Dubai, St. Petersburg, Cairo, London, Toronto, Metropolis... Gotham..." Batman growled as Ra's continued on in a dangerously soft voice.

"I say the word, the magic causes the Pits to overflow... destroy much of the human filth that infects earth. No satellite, no science involved for you to destroy and foil my plans. Just magic. I know your weaknesses, Detective." He nodded knowingly, and pressed a button on the small remote he held in his hand. A trap door on the high ceiling began to open slowly with a hiss. Batman's eyes widened in disbelief and horror at the objects that were slowly lowered from the gaping hole above the bubbling Lazarus Pit. The coffins of Thomas and Martha Wayne hung precariously in the balance.

Ra's smiled triumphantly. "_All_ of them."

**A/N: Oh and I'd like to thank guest reviewer Senpai Gabby who helpfully corrected a technical error in the last chapter. Senpai Gabby I think you are probably right about it and since I wasn't totally sure myself, I changed it since you seemed quite certain lol. I would PM you about this but can't for obvious reasons :D**

**Anyway as always I would so appreciate if you left a review! Constructive criticism is welcome; I know action isn't really my forte. Thanks to everyone for sticking with the story so far!**


	13. Chapter 13

**BATMAN POV**

"No..." Batman whispered.

Ra's seemed to be enjoying himself. "On the contrary, yes."

Batman struggled to get up, coughed and slid back down. Ra's watched his efforts with an amused air.

"Do you see how fruitless your quest is now?" he asked Batman. "Assuming you are able to stand in the next minute or so, you have a choice to make. You can continue your blind effort to disengage the relic's magic, or you can attempt to save your precious parents." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "The Lazarus Pits can fully restore a man near death, and kill a healthy one...I wonder what the Pits will make of their bodies?" The rope holding the Waynes' coffins lowered slower still, maddeningly creeping closer to the frothing chemicals of the Pit.

Batman growled, and his anger was finally enough to allow him to support himself. He had sustained too many injuries.

But no matter what, he told himself, he was putting this madness to an end one way or another.

The assassins crept closer warily as their adversary straightened to his full height. Ubu, Ra's bodyguard, advanced forward with a particularly gleeful look on his brutish face. "No, no, stand down," Ra's told them. "I want to see what he does. What he chooses." He watched Batman closely. "Another unproductive attempt to save the world? Or selfishly try to save his parents bodies from being desecrated?"He folded his arms. "You will not win today, Detective."

"I... will," Batman grunted, and began to think. He had two minutes, tops, before those coffins sunk into the Pits and the Pits being created around the world overflowed. The device lowering his parents was hidden- no mechanism to stop, he'd have to find it... At the same time...How could he stop the relic when it was surrounded by some sort of protective force field?

"You never _did_ know when to give up," Ra's said smugly, but once again with that hint of admiration. "Even when I had Ubu take care of you for me."

"I thought I buried you alive," Ubu growled from Ra's side.

"That was your mistake," Batman retorted. So it had been Ubu. He was actually rather disgusted with himself. He had been bested by Ubu, of all people? It was practically an insult. He must have been _really_ distracted not to notice that blundering fool.

Just then there was a flash in the middle of the room, and everyone in the room swivelled their heads to look. Four figures stood there, still shimmering slightly from their recent transport.

The Justice League had arrived.

**DIANA POV**

The first thing Diana saw was a bubbling, glowing pool of liquid.

The second thing she saw was _him_. Batman. He was surrounded by assassins- she recognized their uniforms from Ivy Town. Inexplicably, Batman wore the same clothes.

She saw the metas, then zeroed in on Ra's Al Ghul.

"Go!" Superman roared- he, Diana, J'onn and Zatanna sprang into action.

Superman and J'onn flew right into the group of meta criminals and were quickly engaged. Zatanna put her hand out in the direction of the relic and muttered something- there was a bang and a flash of light, and Zatanna was thrown across the room. Before she hit the wall, a large cushion appeared out of thin air to stop her from full impact force.

"Zatanna!" yelled Diana, changing direction to fly towards her.

"It's protected!" Batman shouted at the same time from where he was punching assassins out of his way. "You can't just pick it up!"

Diana sent him what she hoped looked like a cursory glance and helped Zatanna up.

"I'm fine," said Zatanna, wincing slightly as she held her side and adjusted her hat. "I'll try something else. You go ahead and do what you do best." Diana smiled and charged back into the fray- they were outnumbered. A large man lunged at her, screaming, "Infidels!" Diana punched him out without looking his way.

J'onn was engaging with both Cheetah and Ultra-Humanite at the same time, while Superman fought Clayface, Mirror Master and Sinestro. He seemed to be having a hard time, especially with his two virtually intangible foes. Diana decided to take one on, and tackled Clayface.

It was rather like the sensation of flinging herself into a large pile of mud- She punched and kicked at it, but it was just- just _goo_! How did Batman fight this? she thought disgustedly as she squared off with the giant, sneering monster again. She launched herself at it for another punch-

Without warning, Clayface's face molded into Superman's. Caught completely off guard, her fist halted.

Clayface-Superman laughed, grabbed her wrist and threw her. "Works every time," he said, even as Diana got up again. "I guess it's comforting to know you're not willing to punch your boyfriend."

Even in the middle of the crisis, Diana sighed internally. The world always put Superman and herself as a pairing and it was getting tiresome.

Out of nowhere another voice cut across. "Speaking of boyfriends, how's _yours_, Clayface?" Batman pulled some device out of his belt and fired it at Clayface- a long black wire embedded itself into his mushy body and electrocuted him. "You and Bruce Wayne made a cute couple, while it lasted," he taunted as Clayface roared in anger and then pain at the electricity coursing through him.

"What?" said Diana, puzzled. In her confusion she almost missed Clayface's hammer-shaped hand swinging towards her but dodged it at the last second.

Batman sent another round of electricity Clayface's way. Clayface roared again, and then his face went slack. Suddenly his whole body collapsed in on itself, making a large puddle of- clay, Diana supposed- on the floor.

Meanwhile, Diana decided the strange mental image of Batman and Clayface holding hands could wait and turned to ask Batman for direction, but he was already shooting his grapple. She turned to see his target, and saw two wooden coffins hanging from the ceiling that she hadn't noticed before.

"What's that?" she asked.

He shot her an unreadable look, then replied in a very, very low voice. "My parents' bodies."

Diana's eyes widened in shock, just as she got thrown to the floor by Cheetah. She relayed the news mentally to J'onn that the boxes were important. As she elbowed her nemesis in the face, she heard Zatanna speak loudly: "_Pord rouy sesnefed_!"

She heard Ra's Al Ghul roar loudly in rage and several things happened at the same time:

The relic stopped glowing, and sat there ready for the taking. Batman, with his grapple already in place, swooped with no hesitation and tore the relic away from its place...

The cable holding the Waynes' coffins suddenly became slack, and the boxes went in free-fall...

Ultra-Humanite slammed into Zatanna's glowing, prone body and she hit the wall with a resounding _crack_...

Diana, who was still pinned down, instinctively thought as loudly as she could: _J'onn! Take the coffins- Bruce's parents somewhere else_!...

Ra's pulled a Kryptonite knife from his robes and Superman fell to Sinestro's power ring...

At this point, J'onn asked no questions-he swooped forward and deftly caught the coffins inches away from the unknown and vanished, presumably from a transport. Darts pierced the air where he had been mere milliseconds ago.

Ra's howled in anger again.

This was all a very effective distraction, so Diana pulled her legs up and hit Cheetah hard enough in the stomach that she went flying off her. She found a barrage of bullets coming her way now, and began to deflect with her bracelets.

An object fell from above and clattered in front of her- a second later, the area was full of smoke.

"Where'd they go?" Mirror Master shouted.

Diana felt a hand roughly grab her arm. It was Batman, and slung over his shoulder was an unconscious Zatanna.

"Let's get out of here," he hissed.

"I'm not leaving without Superman," she said defiantly. Maybe Batman didn't care if any of them died, but she still had a sense of team responsibility.

"We're not," he said tersely. "We're outnumbered. We get out of sight and find an opening."

She opened her mouth to argue, but his grip tightened. "Ra's won't kill him yet. Trust me," he said gruffly. His tone communicated that even _he_ knew that was a fat chance.

Inexplicably, it was this fact that made Diana relent.

When the smoke cleared, the small army of metas and assassins stood grouped closely around Ra's, who held a weakened Superman in a headlock with one arm and the Kryptonite knife pressed to his throat with the other.

"Do you like my weapon of choice, Detective?" breathed Ra's with a slightly maddened glint to his eye as he searched the room. There was really no telling what he would do now that his plan had been foiled against all his calculated odds. "I believe it's something of yours. You might recognize it as the scalpel the Metropolis doctors used to operate on the Kryptonian here a few days ago." He laughed, and the sound of it was almost uncontrolled. "How fitting that his savior so easily turns on him. Rather like you did, wouldn't you agree, Detective?"

Superman's call was feeble. "Don't listen to him, Batman!"

Far, far above the scene, in a hidden, shadowed alcove just outside the room, Batman visibly stiffened. Diana felt like glaring at him herself but knew that antagonizing him even more would not help the situation right now.

"Did you get the relic?" Diana whispered. He held it up, Diana took it and examined it. It didn't look like much. "What now?"

He didn't answer right away- he was clutching his stomach in pain, nearly doubled over.

She forgot all her quarrels with him for a moment and hurried to his side. "Are you all right?" she asked, worried.

"Fine," he ground out, straightening. She knew he hated being seen as vulnerable and let him push her hand away. "Just a broken rib... That's been hit. A lot."

She felt guilty again. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You shouldn't be. It's my fault," he said.

She peered at him through the darkness, and almost thought she saw Bruce, rather than Batman, in the line of his mouth. She didn't have time to think on it, though.

"Give me the relic!" snarled Ra's suddenly from below. They heard a weak groan of pain from Superman as Ra's dug the scalpel into his neck.

"I know you're here somewhere, Detective. Amazon. You have ten seconds before I kill the Kryptonian."

**A/N: there are 3 constants in life: death, taxes, and me shamelessly asking for reviews ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

**BATMAN POV**

Batman snapped back into his dominant personality. He knew Ra's wasn't bluffing this time; the man had nothing to lose. They had less than ten seconds.

Meanwhile, below, Ra's dug the Kryptonite scalpel deeper into Superman's neck, now drawing blood. Superman groaned. Ra's laughed harshly; the tight circle of assassins and metas around him went into fighting stances, ready for their two foes. "Time's up, De-"

He never got to finish his sentence because a batarang hit his hand, causing him to drop the knife. At the same time, a golden lasso looped around Superman's prone body and yanked him upwards to safety, where Wonder Woman was now floating.

Batman followed up his Batarang with a headfirst dive to plant his two feet into Ra's chest- Ra's went crashing down. Wasting no time, Batman bent down, grabbed Ra's head in both hands and, with his forwards momentum, executed a front flip. He landed on his feet, Ra's landed on his back.

Except, Ra's was also an exceptional fighter. Right before he crashed onto his back, his legs bent to catch himself so that he could also find himself on his feet. Batman and Ra's squared off.

"Give me the relic," Ra's hissed, unsheathing his sword.

"Oh, this?" called Diana from where she had socked Sinestro in the face. All eyes seemed to be drawn to it as she easily crushed the statue between her fingers.

Both Batman and Ra's shouted, "No!"

There was a deafening silence, followed by an equally deafening boom. A shockwave seemed to move through the ground, knocking everyone off their feet. It didn't stop at the walls of the room, but kept going. A great rumbling was heard, and the whole mountain side began to shake.

"This place is going down!" Superman weakly called from where he struggled to get up.

The metas seemed to realize that as well.

"I didn't sign up for this!" Mirror Master declared, and his image vanished. The other villains seemed to share those sentiments as they bolted out the door.

Batman, who was holding down Ra's, shouted at his teammates: "Take Zatanna and get out of here!"

Diana looked like she wanted to argue; but she knew that he could hold his own. He had taken on greater challenges than this. Besides, Batman could request transport from the Watchtower out if worst came to worst.

Ra's seemed to gain a second wind and hit Batman in the face with the hilt of his sword. In the same stroke, he hit Batman off him.

Batman fell with a _spash_! into the pool of water that had, mere minutes ago, been an unnatural Lazarus Pit.

"You have crossed me for the last time, Detective!" Ra's yelled. His assassins let their arrows fly into the water where Batman's head was. He dove under water.

The arrows continued to come, so Batman threw an explosive Batarang out of the water. It went off with a bang and was enough of a distraction for him to get out of the water without resistance.

Ra's charged him again, his sword out. Batman dodged the first couple of swipes without much difficulty.

"The ceiling's coming apart!" he heard the assassin near him shout. He reached that way and took the man's sword out of its sheath, but the assassin was too distracted by the crumbling rock falling from above to notice.

He turned just in time to see Ra's sword come down at him from an upward arc, and with a _clang_ their swordfight began.

"This time, you're answering to the authorities, Ra's," Batman growled as they parried back and forth. Rocks from the ceiling began to fall with more frequency, narrowly missing the two of them at times.

Ra's had the gall to look amused. "You think that means anything to me, Detective? I have lived over 600 years. I have connections everywhere." He feinted but Batman didn't fall for it when he suddenly stabbed. "Your _authorities_ are corrupt. Everyone can be bought for the right price." Ra's pushed his sword's blade onto Batman's, trying to overpower him. "Just one of the many things wrong with humankind." Batman moved to the side, the sudden absence of resistance causing Ra's to stagger. Still, Ra's turned around fast enough to block the blow to the head that Batman had aimed at him with the hilt of his sword. He then countered with a jab that Batman only barely managed to avoid.

Batman wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. In all his clashes with Ra's in the past, his adversary had proved to be an exceptional fighter, matching and often surpassing his own prowess.

Ra's figure was suddenly encompassed by a shadow. Batman looked up and saw a large slab of rock falling directly in the path of his nemesis.

With no time to explain, Batman jumped at Ra's and tackled him. They landed, mere inches away from where the rock had been about to smash Ra's to a pulp.

Ra's looked a little shocked for a moment at his brush with death, and then began to laugh. He swiped his sword at Batman, and with the proximity, his aim was true: a deep gash was cut into Batman's torso.

He hissed in pain and jumped up, brandishing his own sword again.

"Ah, Detective," said Ra's, still laughing. "I almost forgot how you detest death. So many of your problems could be solved if you just had the courage to do what is necessary. But then again, if that was the case, you would have joined me by now."

Batman felt a shadow over his own head at the same time that Ra's lunged at him again. There was a piece of ceiling coming down on him.

He tried to lead Ra's away from the incoming rock, but this time Ra's was not so lucky. The rock fell on him, pinning half his body underneath it. Batman started forwards to help, but the mountain was coming down on their heads too quickly now. Half the room was blocked off. The exit would be blocked off soon enough as well.

"Beloved!"

Batman turned.

Talia Al Ghul was running towards them. "My father," she cried, stricken with panic. "Where is my father?"

Batman pointed to where they could barely see his head, behind slabs of rock that were rapidly falling. "You have to get out of here, Talia," he said urgently. Getting her out was now the priority. "Come with me." He stretched out his black gloved hand.

Talia looked at him sadly. With a sinking feeling, Batman knew her decision. It wasn't so much the situation as the symbolic choice she was making now. "I cannot," she said, and with one delicate hand reached up and stroked his cheek. "I must stay with my father. Goodbye, Beloved." She stepped away.

He made to go towards her. "No-"

And then he couldn't see her at all- an explosion rocked the mountainside, and the next thing Batman knew he was airborne, flung away from the Al Ghuls.

And when he stood, there was a solid rock wall in front of him, sealing away the contents of the stronghold from him. The only way was out.

Wasting no time, he ran out of the collapsing tunnel, nearly being stopped frequently by falling rocks that he managed to evade.

The last explosion sent him flying down the mountain side, down the same waterfall as before. For a moment he considered allowing himself to fall all the way and letting nature decide whether he lived or died; but as always, in the end he pulled out his grapple and swung himself to relative safety on an opposing cliff.

He sat himself down heavily, elbows resting on his knees; he paid no heed to his many injuries, he just wanted to stay here for a minute. He didn't know where the League was and didn't want to see them right now anyway. He had another two probable deaths to put on his conscience, to add to his endless guilt. Even though Talia had chosen that path herself... he still could have saved them. He ran through the situation in his head a dozen times, finding every way in which he had failed, every way in which he could have done something more. Every single way that they might not have died, had he just been a bit stronger, a bit smarter, a bit _better_.

If only Talia had chosen to come with him. But she wouldn't. He had to realize that now. In the end, Talia would always choose her father over him. It was why they could never have been together.

After a minute or two, Batman wondered why the League hadn't contacted him, only to remember that he had disabled the League communicator in his cowl. He laughed hollowly to himself. He had almost forgotten that he had practically been kicked out. This was the last time he worked with the League... maybe the last time he worked with Clark... with _Diana_...

Suddenly, as if summoned by his thoughts, J'onn shimmered into existence in front of him. "Batman," he said solemnly, if possible a little more formally than usual. "Are you all right? We have been searching the mountainside. Your League communicator is down," he said pointedly. But Batman could tell he wasn't too upset by this.

J'onn was keeping a remarkably normal facial expression and tone, but Batman wasn't called the World's Greatest Detective for nothing- He could detect the distrust, the hesitation in J'onn's words. And if the most empathetic member of the League wanted him out, what hope did he have with any of the others?

He felt a small wave of despair crash over him but squelched it quickly for fear that J'onn might pick up on it.

"Fine," Batman replied shortly. He spotted Diana descending from the sky. Being the open person that she was, he could see very clearly the emotions flitting over her face. Worry, anger, sadness, distrust again.

"Batman," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "Are you all right? Where's Al Ghul?"

"Dead," he said flatly, although technically he wasn't sure. "And..." he hesitated briefly. "The coffins?"

Her face softened, but it was J'onn who replied. "I left them with your butler." Before Batman could open his mouth to issue a gruff "Thank you", J'onn then added, "I am going to find Superman. Goodbye, Batman." The finality of the statement wasn't lost on Batman. It was such a bull excuse anyway, they had League communicators. J'onn just wanted to leave him alone with Diana.

"Bruce," said Diana, and he almost flinched at the sound of his name rolling off her tongue, "How did he have your parents' coffins?"

He looked away, wishing she wouldn't care. It made it so much harder to leave. "He dug them up."

There was a pause. "Why?" she probed, softly again. Dammit, that voice of hers, she _knew_ what it did to him. When she used it, he almost felt compelled to answer.

He wrestled with himself for a moment. "Doesn't matter," he replied shortly.

She glared at him. "I _will_ use my lasso-"

"It was a distraction," he relented, equally softly. "To get to me. So that I would be vulnerable."

She moved in a little closer. "What did they do, Bruce?" She fingered the lasso at her side menacingly.

"They buried me," he admitted finally. "They buried me in my parents' graves." He turned away, but not before he saw the look of absolute horror on her face. He didn't want to see it, he didn't want her pity.

"Bruce," she said. He needed to get out of here. He pressed a button on his cowl to call the Batplane to his location. He felt her hand on his shoulder, and the touch sent an unwanted spark through him. "That's terrible. I... How did you get out?"

With a grim smile, he pulled off one gauntlet to reveal his bloody and bruised knuckles. "If you have a high enough tolerance for pain, nothing's impossible," he said. He had meant to shock and disgust, but Diana only looked more sympathetic; her ocean-blue eyes widened and ensnared him in their gaze. She started forward as if to hug him. Instinctively, he stepped back and instantly regretted it.

With this rejection, this act of distrust, Diana seemed to remember the past few days' events and her arms settled back to her sides. Her lips formed a thin line. If Bruce was a lesser man he might have been quelled by the sight of the glaring Amazon, but he stood his ground. Right on cue, the Batplane rose above the surface of the cliff, waiting for its pilot.

He opened the cockpit and jumped in. "I have to get back to Gotham," he said tersely.

She still stood there, and now her hands were on her hips. She was trying to maintain a strong front but Batman could tell that he wasn't the only one with the internal struggle. "Of course. The only thing you care about." That stung but he welcomed it. This was what he wanted.

This was meant to be. He had always known that this was how things would end, and it was better this way for all involved.

"One thing," he said in his hardest voice. "The Justice League stays out of my city. Goodbye... Wonder Woman." And with the expression of shock on her face, he sealed the deal. It was over. He lifted off and was gone with a sonic boom.

He had an iron-willed resolve about this, but it didn't stop his heart from falling, falling, falling... breaking again.

**A/N: Yah, Batman's a doosh, but come on, you know this is how he would react to Diana trying to break him down... R & R guys!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I posted a little earlier than usual bc this is a shorter filler chapter... sorry guys :'(**

**DIANA POV**

She already regretted making that comment about Gotham. He was hurting and she'd seen it, yet she'd allowed his purposely lashing out to get to her. She had played right into his hands again and she was furious. At him and at herself.

She sat in the Monitor Womb with her legs crossed on the keyboard, fuming at the view of Earth below, when Superman walked in.

"He said something, didn't he," he said flatly, and both of them knew who and what they were talking about.

"Yes," she admitted, uncrossing her legs. "Kal, I can't- I can't wrap my head around it. He pretends to be so aloof and arrogant and unfriendly with everyone, but when he was around the two of _us_ especially, he seemed to lose his shell. He seemed to trust us." She swallowed. "But I guess I judged him all wrong, even after all these years. He doesn't trust us and he never did. Was it all an act?"

Superman was quiet for a moment. "I think you know the answer to that, Diana."

Diana knew what he meant by that. "My heart tells me that he cared," Diana said finally. There was a long silence between them as they contemplated what that meant.

"Did you know that he got buried alive?" Diana asked suddenly. "Al Ghul dug up his parents and replaced their bodies with his. That's what happened to him when we were being attacked."

Superman's eyebrows went up, and his mouth pulled into a grimace. "That's..."

"I know," she sighed.

Superman rubbed his forehead. "How does he get the most _twisted_ villains?" he muttered.

"It's strange because he didn't seem to be affected by it at all," Diana added, staring off at Earth but not really seeing. "He even made some sick joke about it..."

"He deals with psychos on a daily basis," Superman assured her. "He's probably been through worse. It's why he is the way that he is."

"He is the way that he is," repeated Diana. It was no reassurance at all. It was just another opportunity to wonder at the kind of man Bruce might have been if his life hadn't been so difficult. "Don't we have to take that into account... about his contingencies against us?"

Superman looked at her sharply. "Are you siding with him?" His tone wasn't accusatory; on the contrary, it was laden with his own self-doubt. Perhaps Diana wasn't the only one re-evaluating the situation.

"No. Yes. I don't know," Diana said truthfully, hugging her knees to her chest now. "But I'm starting to think that a lot of my anger was just my personal feelings... that someone I considered my best friend... was able to distance himself enough to consider the unthinkable about me. And honestly, I would never have done the same for him."

Superman was silent for another moment. "Now, it's like I'm not even surprised that he had these plans ready to take us down," he said. "It's just like him to be paranoid. In the back of my head I knew it. I just didn't want to believe it."

"But he's gone now," Diana said morosely. "He's not coming back to the League." A thought occurred to her. "What does the rest of the League know about this? Do you have any idea?"

"Nothing substantial," said Superman tersely. "But people weren't exactly surprised that Batman would just leave a Founder's meeting in the middle, looking pissed off. In fact, I can think of a handful of occasions when he's done it before." He laughed a little bit. "When the League notices that Batman hasn't been seen for a while, _then_ we might have a problem on our hands that we have to address."

"What if Bruce was right?" Diana whispered. "What if we shouldn't have let him leave?"

Superman sighed. "I know what you're asking, Diana. But a decision like that can only be made with the input of all the Leaguers, at the very least the Founders. If we all feel safe having him among us. It's not fair for the two of us to bring him back, not with what we know now."

Diana knew he was right, but it didn't stop her from hurting. "I hope he's all right," she said.

"We'll keep an eye on Gotham anyway. He'll be all right," Superman said, but now his assurances seemed to be more so for himself. "He always is."

"Always," Diana echoed.

**BATMAN POV- HOURS EARLIER**

Batman turned off the Batplane with a heavy sigh. He was ready to have these wounds finally properly treated and sleep for a few hours. He was drained, physically, mentally and emotionally. He would welcome the oblivion of sleep, even if it came hand-in-hand with a few nightmares.

He opened the Batplane's cockpit and jumped out. Alfred stood in front of the plane, waiting as always.

Batman looked around. "Where are... the coffins?"

Alfred surveyed him. "They've been buried again, sir," he said slowly.

Bruce exhaled and yanked off his cowl. "Then I can rest easy."

"Doubtful," said Alfred. Oddly, his tone wasn't sarcastic. Bruce took a closer look at his butler. Only now did he notice Alfred's pale complexion, his lips drawn into an unusually thin line.

"What is it, Alfred?" he asked urgently, drawing closer. Belatedly he recalled, just days ago, saying the same thing and receiving terrible news from it.

Alfred briefly closed his eyes, then opened them again to look his charge squarely in the eyes. "It's Master Tim, sir." There was a slight pause that lasted for an eternity. "He's gone missing."

**A/N: Ten brownie points if you know what's going down. Go!**

**(If you don't, well, I'll explain at the beginning of the next chapter.)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Finished this chapter early, yay. Yup it's Return of the Joker. (If you don't know, Youtube it). Yes, it's the same. No, I'm not rehashing it at all. This chapter is a little bit of before, and the next chapter will be mostly after.**

**Haha reviews for the last ch were decidedly negative. Why did I do this, you ask? Because I'm sadistic, obviously. I love angst. I _didn't_ love Return of the Joker, I mean god it was horrible, but it never showed really the aftermath of how it might have affected Bruce. As I said to some reviewers already, there's a saying that you have to break characters wide open so that you can see what they're really made of. So here we are. (Also, because I was searching for a realistic way that Bruce would get close to Diana again. This story will have a HEA for them. Heh that's taking a lot longer than I thought.) I hope no one hates me terribly much. I know the story is starting to skew quite a bit from the description, which will have to be updated at some point I suppose. Any other questions/concerns feel free to PM me.**

**BATMAN POV**

Bruce Wayne walked into the boardroom with his usual swagger, a lazy grin playing about his lips.

"Mr. Wayne," said one of the directors in a displeased voice. "So nice of you to join us."

It had been over two weeks since Bruce Wayne had been seen in public. Bruce wouldn't have even taken off his cowl if Alfred hadn't ordered him to make an appearance. And for good reason; he was too stressed out over Tim's disappearance to want to make time for this. And Lucius Fox wasn't there, so the meeting was even more intolerable.

On the outside, Bruce's grin widened. "I always try to make time for these meetings." He heard a few snorts around the table.

"Where have you been, Bruce?" asked one of the friendlier directors.

"Oh, you know, dressing up like a giant bat, fighting crime," he deadpanned. That earned him a few chuckles.

"Batman hasn't really been seen these past few weeks, you know," said one of the older gentlemen. "Some say he's dead."

"Or, like me, just otherwise occupied," Bruce winked.

The meeting then settled. Bruce often found it amusing that his board ignored the work that he did for the company, although to be fair, he usually did it behind his office doors. To the public, he was just a figurehead; to the board of directors, he was a nuisance. It worked greatly to his advantage that people often see only what they want to see.

But today, these facts were not amusing in the slightest. His eyes kept darting back towards the clock. Only two o'clock? He had to wait at least six or seven hours until he could head out to resume his search. At least Barbara was in the cave working on it, but he felt restless. He had been having heart-to-hearts with the Justice League while Tim patrolled the city by himself and ultimately paid the price, and now he was sitting in a pointless business meeting while Tim was godknowswhere and he could not stop cursing himself for his stupidity-

"Mr. Wayne?" intoned an irritated voice to his left. "What do you have to say on the subject?"

"What?" snapped Bruce. Too late, he realized his mistake as the others looked curiously at him. He quickly soothed his features back to that of the carefree playboy. "I'm sorry, I must have dozed off. What were we talking about?"

"LexCorp," reported the man to his left, "wants to collaborate again in defensive weapons technology."

Bruce rubbed his eyes. "Doesn't Mercy Graves remember the last time we had a collaboration? If I remember correctly, our armed robots went loose in Metropolis."

"LexCorp has lost their touch," said one scornfully. "Ever since Ms. Graves took over when Luthor... disappeared." There was an awkward moment, and Bruce took a moment to remember the Darkseid/Anti-Life Equation days. End of the world and secrets of the universe and destruction. Ah nostalgia.

"Well, what does she propose?" Bruce asked. Not that he really cared.

"Rather than something technological, LexCorp wants to design a biochemical weapon, and wants our lead scientists to be part of it."

He sat still for a moment. "Biochemical weaponry doesn't sound defensive to me."

"Ah yes Mr. Wayne, we forgot your expertise from how you've spent _years_ on the battlefield," one of the directors, whom Bruce had never liked, sneered sarcastically. There were a few chuckles at the naive Mr. Wayne's expense.

Normally, he would have argued, would have kept this discussion going, but today Bruce slunk lower in his chair, suddenly completely tired with it all. "Fine. Yes. Whatever." He folded his arms, but they weren't done with his attention yet.

"All right. Next, we have to approve the annual funding we have allocated to the Justice League." They all looked expectantly at Bruce.

Bruce had nearly forgotten. After the whole CADMUS fiasco, when the League finally started working with the government more transparently, Bruce had moved his funding for the Justice League out into the open, where it was one less thing he would have to worry about being exposed for. It wasn't a suspicious move by any means; several corporations clamoured to fund the League in its renewed popularity.

Now, however, that Bruce and the League weren't on friendly terms, he hesitated, then gave in. They _could_ go bad, but that didn't mean they _had_ yet. And as long as they fought for true justice, he supported them. Not that he'd ever admit it to Clark and Diana, but he wouldn't abandon them so fully. He nodded his head warily. "I move to approve the funding."

"Seconded," chimed the man on his right, and the meeting moved on to different topics. Meanwhile, Bruce couldn't handle it anymore. He felt like he was suffocating in this pressed, white-collared shirt. Who was he kidding? He wasn't a business mogul. He was a fake. He itched to remove his Armani suit, to don his _true_ skin once again.

He stood up abruptly in the middle of someone's sentence. He didn't pay any mind as they gaped at him, but strode towards the doors.

"Mr. Wayne! Where are you going?" one of them called.

He walked out, hardly pausing to call the first excuse that came to mind. "I have a date!"

Alfred was waiting outside the building, wearing his usual bored-looking expression, but Bruce saw the tight lines of worry around his butler's eyes.

"Good meeting, I hope, sir?" he asked, opening the door for him.

"Just delightful," Bruce replied through gritted teeth.

**DIANA POV**

"What did you find?" asked Diana impatiently, hands on hips.

Flash scratched his head. "Nothing, really. A lot of boulders. Rocks."

"No bodies?"

"Not a single corpse in the whole place," Flash reported. Diana chewed her lip in thought. The League had sent a team in to India to sort through the rubble from Al Ghul's stronghold, but it hadn't yielded anything substantial as of yet.

Flash read her thoughts. "How could he have survived it? Without those Lizard Pit things, he's just a human, isn't he?"

Diana didn't bother to correct him. "We know better, Wally, than to underestimate non-powered humans."

"Ohhh," Flash said, putting his hands up in an apologetic gesture. "Sorry. Bats. Touchy topic, eh, Wondy?" Perhaps Diana's thoughts were playing out on her face, because his face blanched and with a "see ya later!" the Scarlet Speedster had zoomed out of the room, leaving a storm of fluttering papers in his wake.

In the middle of her attempts to catch them all, Shayera walked in, swinging her mace casually with one hand. Diana noted her aggressive posture. "Run-in with John?"

Shayera glared around at the room as if it had done her a personal wrong. "Like you wouldn't believe. Now he's just being an asshole." She straightened, and her tone made it clear to Diana that she didn't want to talk about it. "Did we find anything at the scene of the whole Al Ghul fiasco?"

"No," Diana sighed.

Shayera shook her head. "If I was there, there wouldn't have been a hassle, I would've gone straight for him and knocked him out with my mace." Shayera had been off-world for a different mission.

Diana snickered. "I'm sure you would have made the whole thing easier."

Shayera picked up one of the papers off the floor. "Who made this invite for the annual charity dinner? It looks cheesy as hell."

"Our organizers," replied Diana. "Why?"

Shayera read off the stiff cardstock. "'Justice League Would Like to Thank Our Gracious Sponsors At Our Annual Dinner, held this year in Star City. We would not be able to do it without you'... what a load of BS. They should've just written 'Thanks for your money, we really needed it to upgrade the cafeteria food. Goodbye.'"

Diana tried unsuccessfully not to laugh. "It's called being formal and diplomatic."

Shayera pretended to look confused, but her expression changed to real curiosity as she continued scanning the invite. "Hey... Wayne Enterprises is still funding us this year!"

Diana couldn't stop herself- she snatched the paper. "What?" Bruce was still funding them? Her mind searched for reasons that he might have decided this.

Meanwhile Shayera was voicing hers. "...Maybe it wasn't his decision? Maybe he wasn't paying attention when he signed the paper? Maybe he wants to help refurbish your personal quarters?" She sent a mischievous look Diana's way. "In any case, I guess we'll see him at the gala in a week, handing us a fancy cheque."

Diana was still gaping. "It doesn't make sense..." But inside her heart was leaping. He still cared!

Oh, if only the Amazons could see her now. She was pathetic.

"If it wasn't for you, he probably wouldn't have bothered," Shayera said, watching her closely.

Diana shot her a sharp look. Shayera snickered.

"Oh, come on, Diana. All the Founders could sense the unresolved sexual tension between you two, you could cut it with a knife. Well, except Wally. He tends to miss the obvious."

Diana abandoned pretense. "I know I never made it a secret to him, but he doesn't want-"

Shayera snorted. "Diana, I don't know what you see in him, but it's obvious what he would see in you. You're the whole package- smart, beautiful, genuine, strong. Plus, the Batman shows _emotion_ when you talk to him. If that isn't true love, I don't know what is. He wants you. Maybe he just doesn't know it yet."

Diana gazed sadly at the neatly typed words "Bruce Wayne" on the invitation card. "I know... but why did he try to destroy me?" she wondered.

Shayera sighed. "Diana, you know why. That's the way Batman is. He distances himself from everybody in order to do what's necessary. I would bet he had a hard time looking objectively at your weaknesses, if it makes you feel any better."

Diana looked curiously at her. The way she talked... "Do you not feel angry about it?"

The winged woman hesitated, then shrugged offhandedly. "I... not anymore. He was only making a backup in case we ever started wreaking havoc. I don't blame him for that. And it's better than what I did. I was exploiting League weakness so that we could weaken Earth's defenses. He was doing it to defend Earth, and defend us against ourselves." She met Diana's gaze, a guilty pull to her mouth now. "I wouldn't say he doesn't care. Maybe he cares too much."

The truth of it resonated through Diana, like something she had already realized that was only now making itself known to her conscious mind. The tension in her melted away as she acknowledged that she forgave him. A crime he had committed only to keep them all safe, because he _cared_...

Her mind strayed to other memories. Batman sacrificing his life to crash the Watchtower on top of the Thanagarian base... Batman pushing her out of the way of a rogue bus, even though she could take it... sacrificing his pride, risking his reputation to sing in front of an audience for her (how she wished she'd seen that in person)...hopelessly trying to dig her out from underneath a missile...

Bruce was the one who volunteered himself to make the unpopular choices. He was one of the best men the world had ever known, because he sacrificed _everything_- and every hope for a good life- so that others could have that chance before him. Even knowing that it would ultimately leave him isolated.

She understood why he'd done what he did- maybe she didn't like it and would rather he hadn't, but she _got_ it.

She was so impossibly in love with him. And there was hope, indeed; when he was giving reasons that they shouldn't be together he didn't say " I don't feel that way for you" as one of them.

Shayera must have seen something of that on her face, because her face broke into a grin. "He might not be part of the League anymore, but that doesn't have to stop you. He's gonna be at the gala; go get 'im."

Maybe, thought Diana, maybe I will.

**A/N: Next chapter we will finally see some goddamn BMWW moments! :D R & R!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: May I make a music recommendation for this chapter?... I wrote the latter half of this (most of Diana's POV) while listening to "All of Me" by John Legend. I personally think it's a really beautiful song, but don't take my word for it, listen to it for yourself :) Enjoy reading!**

**BATMAN POV- SEVERAL DAYS LATER**

"Sir," called Alfred from the door of Bruce's bedroom. "Are you quite sure you have that tie on right?"

Bruce looked down and saw that he had knotted it all wrong. He sighed in frustration and raked one hand through his hair. "_Nothing_ I do is right anymore."

Alfred knew what he was talking about and walked closer to gently place a hand on his ward's shoulder. "That's not true, sir," he said.

Bruce looked up, and his blue-eyed gaze was bleak. His shoulders were slumped- his posture was all defeat. "Isn't it?" he whispered. His eyes shut tightly. "I can't stand it, Alfred... What if it's too late? What if Tim is..." He couldn't even finish the sentence; his voice died out and he put his hands over his face. The weeks and weeks of constant stress were taking their toll on his spirit.

Alfred seemed to understand, his own eyes conveying his sadness. He squeezed Bruce's shoulder. "He's not, sir," said the faithful butler with a confidence he didn't feel. "He's out there somewhere."

"Why am I going to this stupid League gala? I'm not even one of them anymore, I should have just sent Lucius," Bruce said, and his voice rose with panic. "What if tonight is the night that I need to be out there and I'm not-"

"Master Bruce," Alfred cut off gently, "I might remind you that you only need to spend an hour at most with your appearance there. Miss Gordon will be on watch and you can join her soon enough." He paused. "As for the Justice League, perhaps they choose not to understand, but you must be the better person and continue to support their cause." Bruce had told Alfred all about the contingency plans.

Bruce looked up again. "I'm not the better person."

"You are," Alfred said firmly, holding Bruce's tired gaze for several seconds before Bruce finally sighed, relenting, and squared his shoulders, ready to face the evening's event. Upon seeing this reassuring change, Alfred's demeanour changed entirely, back to his usual professional air. "And this tie is a horrendous colour, sir, have you no taste at all? And your hair is a mess. I _shudder_ to think the last time you ran a comb through it..." Tutting, Alfred walked to the closet to choose another tie, and Bruce nearly smiled.

An hour later, Bruce Wayne was preparing to board his private jet to Star City when he got a call on his cell.

"Yes," he answered tersely.

"It's me," said Barbara Gordon. "You might be interested in this. We just received an invitation... from the Joker."

**DIANA POV**

"Are we set to go?" Diana asked Superman. He nodded.

Diana took another look around the room. She couldn't see Bruce anywhere, and had at no point in the night heard anyone mutter his name in a delightedly scandalized tone, as wealthy socialites seemed wont to do.

But now the time had come to begin the proceedings, and she still hadn't seen any sign of him. She chewed her lip in thought. Did he dislike the League so badly that he wouldn't set foot in here?

Superman seemed equally tense, but his superhearing hadn't yielded any results either. "We'll just see if he shows up," he suggested, then frowned. "Your hair looks different today." He reached forward and tucked a curl behind her ear.

"Vixen curled it." She pulled the curl out again. "It's supposed to be like that."

He looked confused. "Why?"

Diana felt a little flustered for a moment. When Vixen had offered, she'd almost said no but... She didn't want to say she'd done it for Bruce, because she hadn't, but his reaction was something she had admittedly been thinking about. "Just because."

Superman shrugged helplessly and turned away, muttering something that sounded like "Girls." Diana grinned to herself at his awkwardness. You could take the boy out of Kansas...

Now, Superman spoke into the mic. "Ahem... can I have your attention?" The mindless chatter died down at once. "I'd like to begin by expressing my gratitude that you fine people have chosen to support the Justice League once again this year. We would not be able to run as smoothly without your help." Clark began naming off their sponsors, and one by one they came to the stage and took pictures with Superman with their huge, showy cheques. Meanwhile, Diana stood at the side on the stage, smoothing down her purposely bland evening dress.

("You don't want to outshine our donors," Vixen had explained when Diana expressed surprise over the simple sheath Vixen had chosen for her. "I mean, you will anyway, but this is _their_ night to show off their money. We want to keep them happy.")

"And representing Wayne Enterprises... Bruce Wayne?" Superman left it on a questioning note, looking around the audience. The audience, in turn began to look among themselves. "Is Bruce Wayne with us tonight?"

"Wow, what an ass," muttered Stargirl from Diana's side. "Probably ditched to go drink himself into a stupor." Diana had to remind herself that not everyone knew Bruce's dual identities in order to restrain herself from punching a colleague in the face.

Superman repeated his question a few more times, then moved onto the next name with a sigh. The rest of the evening passed in a blur for Diana. She smiled when appropriate, shook hands, paid compliments to bigwigs. Normally she would be genuine about this, but she couldn't bring herself to be. Not tonight. Not when she was wondering why Bruce Wayne had RSVP'd but hadn't showed up.

The last of the League's guests trickled out (some rather tipsy, to put it lightly) in the early hours of the morning. The League began to do what they could to clean up the ballroom; technically there were janitors hired, but it was part of the image that they wanted to uphold. Diana half-heartedly pulled streamers off the walls and ceiling for half an hour before Zatanna approached her.

"You know that he sometimes has responsibilities more important than these kinds of events."

Diana didn't turn around. She knew that Zatanna knew about their pseudo-relationship.

"I know," she replied evenly, tearing down a banner with a little more force than necessary. "But something's not right. Call it instinct, but..." There was a piece of tape stuck to her thumb; she waved it around, trying to shake it off.

"Here," said Zatanna softly. "_Evomer_."

The piece of tape fluttered away. A thought occured to Diana as she watched it drift down. "Couldn't you just clean this place with a spell?"

Zatanna grinned wickedly. "But what would be the fun in that?" She nodded to Vigilante nearby, whose back was to them as he bent down by the waist to pick up some trash.

Diana felt a laugh escape her, and looked fondly at the magician. "Thank you, Zatanna."

"There's only one way you can thank me," said Zatanna, the twinkled fading from her eye. "Is it true? Did he leave the League?"

Diana sighed. She had known that this news would find the rest of the League eventually. "Yes... please, keep it quiet?"

Zatanna didn't say anything for a moment. Then, "I can see that you want to leave, but later, we're talking about this, you and me."

Diana smiled gratefully and exited quietly.

_~Several hours later~_

The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Diana landed outside Wayne Manor. Given the jet was invisible, she didn't think it would be too much of a problem.

The manor was as imposing as ever from the outside. It was a tasteful work of architecture, Diana thought to herself. No one would ever guess the secrets that lay behind its walls.

She knocked on the door.

She seemed to wait forever on the front step in the cool, gentle breeze of the night, when finally the door creaked open.

"Alfred!" she exclaimed with a delight that surprised even her. Her smile quickly faded when she noticed the way he looked at her.

"Your Highness," he said stiffly. His posture was straight and his expression formal, but Diana saw the suggestion of coldness in his eyes. Diana put two and two together.

"Alfred..." she began hesitantly. "I was never going to vote Bruce out of the League." As she spoke, the words rang true in her heart. "I understand why he did it. I may not like it, but I do understand. Please," she said, beseeching him with her eyes. "Trust me."

Alfred regarded her warily for a moment, and then he smiled. It was a small smile, but it was something nonetheless. He opened the door a little wider and stepped aside. "Come in, Your Highness. It wouldn't do to leave you on the front step."

Diana gratefully stepped into the house. Alfred closed the door and looked at her. She noted the lines of stress in his expression that he tried so determinedly to hide. "Alfred, is Bruce here?"

"Yes," he said slowly, resignedly. "But... I don't believe he wants to see anyone right now."

Diana's heart beat frantically as her suspicions arose back to the surface. "Why? Alfred, what happened?"

The butler hesitated.

Diana leaned forward and allowed her genuine love and worry to flood the expression of her face. "Alfred. Please tell me what happened to Bruce. Hera knows _he_ won't tell me."

The shock on the butler's face told her that her persuasion had worked. "I- Very well," he said. "Perhaps we ought to step into the kitchen for a moment."

A minute later, Diana sat perched on the edge of the barstool's seat.

"Would you like a spot of tea, Your Highness?" She noted Alfred's hands shaking slightly as he pulled out a pot, in his effort to keep a professional air in the face of what Diana suspected was a large calamity.

Alfred looked up when Diana placed her hand on his shoulder. "Alfred," she said gently. "I don't want anything except to know."

He exhaled a shaky breath. "Very well."

~00000~

Diana sat back, shocked. Her eyes were wet. When he had related Robin's kidnapping, she had been horrified enough. Yet the story had grown more horrifying and more gory still.

"Where are... his other partners right now?" she whispered.

Alfred's eyes had been closed ever since he finished the story and he kept them closed. "Miss Gordon- Batgirl- left in anger after telling me this. An hour or two after we left... Master Tim... with a trusted doctor. Something about Master Bruce 'firing' her or something of the sort." He sighed deeply. "Master Dick no longer resides in Gotham." There was a story behind that, Diana could tell, but she wasn't going to press it just now.

As if in a trance, she got up from the table. Alfred didn't stop her and didn't follow her as she made her way to the grandfather clock that guarded Bruce's darkest secret. She'd seen him manipulate it before and she copied his actions. The door swung open, and she descended into the Batcave.

What she saw scared her a little more, if that were even possible.

Bruce sat in his chair, facing the computer. He was covered in his blood-covered armour, his cowl off. But both his arms were resting limply at his sides, rather than at work typing furiously at the keyboard. As she drew near, she saw that his posture was slumped, and his eyes... were blank. The usual keening intelligence didn't stir behind those brilliantly electric blues, but were glassy. Dull.

"Bruce?" she said quietly. Her voice echoed around the still cave, disturbing a bat or two. Bruce didn't stir or even respond; his eyes only reflected the Batcomputer's screen back at her.

But what was more odd to her was that his face reflected the same emotionlessness. When he was the Bat, he had that expression, but his eyes held his humanity.

Now, she thought in panic, now he seemed almost an empty shell.

"Bruce?" she repeated again, and this time put a hand to his scruffy jaw. "Bruce, I know everything. Please say something."

She wasn't ready when he spoke. Only his mouth seemed to move.

"When will it end?"

Diana was caught off guard. "What?"

"Everything," he said.

"Bruce..."

"You know, I stopped believing there could be a God when my parents died," he continued mechanically. "Now I know better. He's there, all right. And He hates me." There was such self-loathing in his voice that Diana's own heart wrenched with the need to comfort him. She put both hands on cheeks, loving the feeling of his warm skin on hers. He pushed her hands away, and now Diana saw the familiar angry spark return to his eyes.

"Why are you here, Wonder Woman?"

Diana nearly flinched at the use of that moniker from him. She spoke calmly.

"For you."

He glared at her, and now it was the Bat standing up from this chair to stand toe-to-toe with Diana. "I don't need you," he said harshly. "I need to go back on patrol." This last part was more for himself as he began to stride away.

Was he insane? In his condition? Diana reached out and grabbed his arm. "No," she said firmly. "Maybe you don't _need_ me, Bruce. But why can't you allow yourself a little comfort from me?"

His back stiffened, and a moment later he turned again to face her, his ice-cold eyes flashing with anger. "Here's my _comfort_," he hissed, and snagged her around the waist. Before she had time to react, he pulled her in for a bruising kiss.

Diana knew he was only doing this because he was hurting, but that didn't stop her from, for a few moments, melting. His mouth seemed to fit perfectly onto hers, and a familiar heat flared between them, a heat that had been denied for years. Diana began to lose herself in it, in his breathing and his soft, silky hair, his body flush against hers in all the right places, this sense of oneness.

She came to her senses when one of his hands slid to her breast in a decidedly un-romantic way, and pushed him away in anger. The kiss had only lasted a few seconds.

"What is wrong with you?" she shouted, and instantly regretted it as the anger died from his eyes, nothing left to disguise the utter pain there. She walked back to him even as he sunk slowly back into his chair.

He laughed hollowly, and the sinister and dichotomous sound of it sent chills down Diana's spine. "The list is endless, Princess."

"Oh, Bruce," she sighed. "I didn't mean that."

"Well, you were right anyway," Bruce spat.

She folded her arms. "What do you mean?"

He sat in silence for a moment. Then, it came out of his mouth in a rush. "I wanted to kill him, Diana. I tried to kill the Joker."

Diana didn't believe him. "You didn't."

"It's true," replied Bruce urgently. Diana could see in his expression that he needed her to understand that. He put one hand to his belt and produced a Batarang.

He held it up, and its thin, sharp edge caught the dim light of the cave. He examined it intensely, not looking at Diana anymore. "I threw this at his head when I found out what he had done," he continued, again with that mechanical voice. "He ducked, but he knew. He knew that I went for the kill shot." He shook his head.

Diana's hands itched to touch him, but she didn't think he was ready for that yet. He still seemed rigid and ready to fight. "Bruce-"

"No!" he shouted suddenly, and Diana was taken aback. "No, listen to me. Maybe I should have killed him a long time ago. So many lives could have been saved from ruin, and Tim..." his voice faded for a moment but came back with strength. "I was selfish. I could have saved so many people, but I didn't, all because I needed to win a philosophical argument?" He laughed again, and the sound had an edge of disbelief. "It didn't even matter in the end... He won."

Diana shook her head. "That's not true-"

"Isn't it?" Bruce said, now staring down at his blood-stained gloves. "He destroyed us. He destroyed Tim. I always saw something of myself in Tim. He was like what I could have been if I wasn't so..." He didn't have words, just gestured to himself. "I took him in because I wanted him to be what I could never be. Happy." He swallowed. "And now, look at him. He would have been better off if I'd never tainted his life. Everyone would be," he finished, and the passion from his little speech seemed to leave him. He was utterly spent.

Diana's tears streamed down her face, but she made no move to wipe them away."Tim is strong. He got that from _you_, Bruce. He will heal. You're wrong. I know, and I'm sure all of your sons would agree, that you have been a blessing to their lives. To the lives of so many people."

"Tell that to Nightwing," muttered Bruce. "And have you forgotten how my mistakes almost got you killed?"

"I understand why you did it," said Diana firmly. "The plans got stolen. That wasn't your fault. And you of all people should know, that the day the Batman kills is the day Batman ceases to exist. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about everything you do. The sacrifices that you make every day. People call you heartless, but the fact is you care for everyone in your city. Everyone in this world. _Every_ life is worth _everything_ to you. And because of that, I can truthfully say you have the biggest heart I have ever known. You have saved countless lives, yet you never ask for thanks. And unfortunately, you don't usually receive it." Her gaze searched his. "But you deserve it. Thank you, Bruce."

Bruce's eyes closed as the words seemed to wash over him. There was a silence.

Then he put his head in his hands. "I'm tired, Diana. I'm tired of being angry." His voice cracked. "It's the only thing I know; the only thing that drives me."

Diana felt the urge to argue but sensed that he didn't want to be interrupted just now.

His eyes looked up pleadingly. "For one moment, I don't want to be angry. I just want to _be_." She felt his eyes on her, pleading silently for permission. Permission to, for just a moment, stop being the angry superhero Batman the world needed, and just be Bruce Wayne so that he could finally grieve. She sighed. "Oh, Bruce..." She finally walked forward and took his face in her hands. He bowed his head and leaned it against her stomach. She just held him. He sat there and didn't cry or make a sound, just breathed in and out steadily. Occasionally a shudder would work itself up his large frame.

Eventually, his strong hands wrapped around her and pulled her into his lap. She didn't stop him, but welcomed the proximity. She put her arms around him and rested her cheek against the top of his head. Slowly, she felt him put his head on her shoulder.

When Diana felt a small drop of something wet trickle down the back of her shoulder, she didn't move. She knew he wouldn't want her to see him like this, as what he perceived as being weak.

To _her_, it made him, impossibly, even stronger.

**A/N: Scene to continue in the next chapter. 200+ reviews and I couldn't be more grateful and astounded at all the support. I love reading each and every one, it keeps me going. To everyone reading this, thank you so much for sticking with the story even if, like some of you, you aren't entirely fond of the way things are panning out. (Of course you're welcome to stop reading, but *pouts* it would make me _sad_) :P**


	18. Chapter 18

**BRUCE POV**

They stayed in that position, intertwined together in a tangle of arms and legs, for what seemed like forever. At some point, Diana seemed to become aware of the bloody stab wound on his leg that had become mere background noise to him.

"Bruce," she whispered, finally shifting from her position. He didn't stir. He didn't want this moment to end. Holding his princess in his arms and pretending she was his, just for a few hours.

She was really everything to him. She showed him the light in life in his darkest hour. This strong, determined, woman who was beautiful in every way, saw something beautiful in everyone else. Even in him. Somehow, she even dulled the white hot pain branded in his chest to an incessant ache.

He felt a strange warm feeling take hold in his heart. It flooded up and spilled over the sides, shot up to his face, leaving him light-headed. _No_, he thought in disbelief as he identified the feeling. _No. Not now_.

It was love.

"Bruce?" she said questioningly now, sitting up to look him in the eye. Bruce felt his features shift back to their usual unreadable state.

"Yes," he replied, and his voice was raspy. He noticed suddenly that her hair was curled. It was a good look. A really good look. He didn't tell her that.

She gazed at him with concern, and one hand was still threaded in his hair, distracting him. "Your leg is bleeding a lot."

He didn't return her stare, choosing instead to look into a dark corner of the Cave. "That's true." His tone indicated he didn't care. It felt like his scalp had grown another million nerve endings, to feel the slightest touch of her fingers in his hair.

Diana wasn't having any of it. She got off the chair and scooped him up in her arms. Before he could even say a word, she had flew him to the nearby operating table and set him down.

He sat there and said nothing, just watched as Diana found the med kit that Alfred kept nearby. She opened it and peered inside at the many instruments and gauzes. Then she looked up, and her expression was apologetic. "I don't know how to do this," she confessed. "Maybe I should call Alfred. I've never had to treat a wound myself."

Bruce couldn't help it. He smiled. The motion was uncomfortable, like it stretched his face in a way that it wasn't supposed to go. He was sure it looked more like a grimace, but if Diana's face lighting up was any indication, that didn't matter.

He supposed he could call Alfred, but wanted to spend more time alone with her, against his better judgment. It had been so long.

"I'll do it," he said a little gruffly, taking the supplies from her. She didn't question it, just hopped up on the table beside him and watched him work. She understood that he needed to close this wound himself, and on more than just a literal level.

She was too close. He felt distracted as he took the scissors and cut away the fabric around the area. Diana sighed upon seeing the wound on his skin. "Oh, Bruce... what _happened_?"

He didn't want to relive the night again, but felt compelled to answer. "Joker stabbed me," he said.

There was silence for several minutes.

"Why can't you acknowledge your pain?" Diana asked, out of the blue.

He was taken off guard, and paused in his stitching. "What?"

She nodded to where he was stitching the wound together. "That must hurt. I know it does. But you don't even flinch."

He shrugged offhandedly. "I'm used to it." That was a lie. It always had and always would hurt like hell.

Perhaps Diana sensed that, because her hand reached out and touched his arm. He stiffened but didn't pull away. Her touch was always like a balm to him.

Her hand moved up his arm, to his throat, her thumb brushing over his jaw for a moment. It then moved down, and her palm laid on his chest, right above his furiously pounding heart. He recognized the dangerous territory this was moving into. For fear of doing something stupid if this continued, he grabbed her wrist before it could move anymore. "Stop," he said, and his voice was ragged.

It wasn't a bruising hold, gentle but firm. She could have broken out of it anyway, if she liked. She didn't. She looked at him through half-lidded eyes, and with her other hand reached out to cup his jaw, to turn his face towards her.

Reluctantly, he met her eyes. Her expression was totally open, and it reflected concern and sadness and tenderness and... love.

His eyes widened.

Seeing his reaction, she leaned in, and his heart leapt.

Her lips brushed his cheek, too close to his mouth. On some level, he was disappointed when she pulled away right after that.

Her eyes were shining, and her emotions were so open to him that he felt like he was breaking. "You're so strong," Diana said. "You never give up. That's why I love you so much."

Bruce sighed, his fears confirmed. "Diana, don't-"

She spoke again, and her voice was tender. "You don't have to say anything. I know that you won't let yourself love me back, and I accept that." Bruce closed his eyes, unable to face her somehow at those words. She continued. "But I will always be here for you."

There was a silence in the cave.

_Tell her, you idiot!_ some part of his brain screamed at him. _Tell her how much you love her_!

_Don't be a fool_, chastised the Bat. _If you let her in, she will get hurt. Besides, you made a promise. And you can only fulfill it alone_.

He felt her slide off the operating table but didn't open his eyes.

"Yes, Mr. Terrific?" He heard her say into her comm-link. "An off-world mission? Yes... I'm free to help." She paused, and her next words were softer. He could tell that she was turned towards him. "I am always ready to help."

He didn't react. He was torn. He had to let her go, he knew that. Let her live her own life, rather than weighed down by his baggage. But he didn't want to.

What was that stupid saying? If you love something, set it free, if it was meant to be, it would come back to you? He almost snorted. How stupid.

He heard her voice in the darkness. "I have to go, but I'll be back. Goodbye, Bruce."

He waited for a few minutes, his eyes kept tightly shut, his posture rigid where he sat on the edge of the table. Then he opened his eyes. She was gone. He had known she would be, but he still felt a little flicker of something like regret.

"Goodbye, Diana," he whispered, so very quietly, into the darkness.

~00000~

_**"If you love a flower, don't pick it up.**_

_**Because if you pick it up it dies **__**and ceases to be what you love.**_

_**So if you love a flower, let it be.**_

_**Love is not about possession.**_

_**Love is about appreciation."**_

_**-Osho**_

~00000~

**A/N: ^I love that quote, and think it really applies to Bruce's feelings... Anyway, don't worry, this is not the end for Bruce and Diana. They will be reunited again in the next chapter. **

**I'd like to give a shout-out to all the Guests who leave a review- obviously I can't reply to them personally, but please know that I read every single one and I am so touched by your comments. :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**BATMAN POV-MONTH LATER**

Batman was crouched on the gargoyle head, watching the scene below him unfold. He'd been following this lead for weeks, and word was that Scarecrow and Killer Croc were working together on something. What, he wasn't totally clear on. But it couldn't be good.

And now the two of them were five floors below, along with their guard, loading bulging crates into the back of a van.

A drug run? He didn't think so.

"Nightwing," he said suddenly, turning around on the rooftop.

Nightwing stopped creeping across the roof and started walking normally. "What, you're not gonna comment today on how you heard me 'halfway across the roof'?"

Batman controlled the small smile threatening to emerge. Not that he would ever admit it, but he enjoyed this rapport with his original protege. "Well, I didn't want to destroy your confidence entirely when I say I knew you were tailing me for three blocks."

Nightwing looked dejected for a moment, and then shrugged and grinned widely. "I was tailing you for, like, six blocks, at least," he said proudly. He finally joined Batman at his side and looked down at the scene below them. "Barbara told me what happened," he said, his tone growing serious. "And let me tell you, by the way, she is _very_ pissed that you kicked her out. And so am I." Batman didn't react to this news at all, just flicked a Batarang at passing thug below, who collapsed without a sound. Nightwing continued. "But that's not what I'm here to talk about. How's Tim?"

Batman knew the inevitable question was coming, but he still flinched. Almost imperceptibly. But his surrogate son noticed.

"No way," he said in an accusatory tone. "You haven't even visited him, have you?"

Batman didn't answer for a long time, mostly because he was trying to muster the strength to talk in his usual emotionless voice. He didn't succeed; his words were laced with hidden pain. "I did... A few days after it happened."

"And?" prodded Nightwing.

Batman opened his mouth to speak, but found that he couldn't. He physically _could_ _not_ tell Dick about how he had walked into Leslie's private clinic and saw Tim through the door, strapped down to the operating table for his surgery to correct his facial features. He hadn't been sedated yet. Screaming, and occasional bouts of laughter spouting from him as if he couldn't stop them. His eyes were so haunted.

Bruce had felt that familiar sense of dread and guilt and found that he could not face him. And most of all, he was so, so terrified that Tim would hate him, because this was all his fault. And he didn't want to find out, so he left in haste.

And hadn't been back since, although he got daily reports from Leslie. Who kept trying to get him to come. Bruce knew that he should. He had to. He had to find out some way or another if the boy truly hated him. If he was so far gone.

He remembered Diana's words, her comforting, velvety voice wrapping around him and warming him: _Tim is strong. He got that from you, Bruce. He will heal. You're wrong._

He certainly hoped she was right. But he wasn't counting on it. Good things were rare in his life.

Instead of answering Nightwing, Batman threw another Batarang at the street lamp, causing cries of alarm. He jumped down from his perch, his cape spreading out into the bat shape. He only half-heard Nightwing sigh exasperatedly behind him before he followed.

He probably wouldn't have gone for such a head on approach, but he had Nightwing with him now. Which was an unexpected advantage, so he didn't have to exhaust his resources with a new strategy.

He landed in the middle of a throng of thugs and Killer Croc. The men were panicking in the darkness.

"Oh my god, it's Batman isn't it!" one of them yelled hysterically. "Why did I take this damn job?!"

"Weren't you blackmailed?" asked the one beside him, puzzled, before he got knocked out by Batman's jab punch.

Three of them, including blackmail guy, ran at him. On the other side, Croc charged with a roar.

Batman waited until almost the last second, then launched himself and flipped gracefully in the air, over their heads. On his way soaring over their shoulders, he took the liberty of relieving them of the guns slung on their backs.

Meanwhile, the thugs crashed right into Killer Croc. As Batman had anticipated, the brunt of the impact was with their heads, and they collapsed.

Batman threw the guns to the side and took a moment to see how Nightwing was doing. His protege had just taken a canister-full of fear gas to the face by Scarecrow.

Nightwing fell to his knees. _No_! Batman almost shouted. Abandoning his fight with Croc, he ran to his fallen protege.

He grabbed Scarecrow by the scruff of the neck, head butted him, and threw him bodily at Killer Croc, who fell back a few steps. With his bought time, he pulled out the fear gas antidote from his belt.

His gloved hands trembled slightly as he administered it to Nightwing. Not him, not now...

It had only been a few seconds, but Dick was already shaking violently. "N-no," he muttered. His eyes widened at an unseen enemy. "Please, no!"

Batman couldn't bear the similarities. "It's okay," he said in as soothing a voice as the Bat could muster as he put the empty cartilage back in his belt. "Relax."

"You, too," sneered a scratchy voice from behind him. Before Batman could react, Killer Croc had grabbed him around the waist and swung him around at the wall. The impact made his vision go black for a millisecond.

Dazed, Batman could barely make out Croc standing before him, holding him up against the wall. "Here, get some sleep," added Croc, and drew back his large fist.

It never made contact. With all the strength he possessed, he held back Croc's punch with one hand. The reptilian-like man's eyes widened. Batman gritted his teeth as he tried to hold off Croc's superior strength for just a moment longer with sheer willpower. Just so he could reach into his belt...

But he couldn't. Croc's other hand squeezed at his throat, choking him. His vision swam, then tunnelled. He fumbled with the compartment of his belt, dizzy from lack of oxygen.

Suddenly the pressure was relieved. The hand around his neck fell away. A recovered Nightwing was atop Croc's back, his legs holding fast around Croc's own throat while he used his arms to wrench his head away. Croc roared in confusion and pain, and Batman seized the opportunity. He hit Croc in the face with the back of his forearm, with the spikes on his gauntlet. Then he did a two-legged kick to Croc's chest which sent him flying back. Nightwing flipped off Croc's shoulders and landed by Batman's side.

Croc's head hit the opposing building's wall with a resounding crack and he was still, blood trickling down his face.

The dynamic duo watched. "You know," said Nightwing in an amused tone. "I don't think I've ever seen you use those spike things before."

"What, did you think they were ornamental?" Batman growled.

Nightwing shrugged. "Well, considering you dress up like a giant bat, the idea wasn't so far-fetched."

Batman grimaced. "Point taken." And then he threw a pair of bolas into the alleyway. Nightwing looked confused at the action.

At least until there was the "oof", the unmistakeable sound of a body hitting the ground. When Scarecrow next looked up, he saw the Batman looming over him, nothing visible in the darkness except the creepy eyes of his cowl. "Scarecrow," the Bat rumbled. "Where were these boxes going? What are you planning?"

Scarecrow laughed as he unsuccessfully tried to struggle out of his bonds. "You'll never find out."

Batman grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up until their eyes were level. "Watch me."

There was clinking sounds in the background as Nightwing rummaged through the boxes. "It's his fear gas, Batman," he reported. "A lot of it. In canisters."

"I don't _know_ anything," said Scarecrow, shrugging. "I'm being paid to ship my... specialty to an undisclosed location. No vengeful schemes. On my part, at least."

Batman examined the man closely. Finally, Batman said, "I believe you."

"You _do_?" Both Nightwing and Scarecrow said incredulously.

Batman nodded to Croc's unconscious body still slumped against the wall. "Why else would you be working with him unless you had to? You're both lackeys. Who are you working for?" As he spoke, he casually placed a hand over Scarecrow's fingers. He didn't need a chemical gas to figure out what people were afraid of.

Scarecrow stared down at his hand for a moment, then looked back up. "I don't know," he said simply.

There was a pause as Batman brought his face closer to his. Then: "Nightwing, I think it's time to go." He dropped Scarecrow's bound body back on the ground. "Let's round them up and leave them here for the GCPD."

Nightwing mock-saluted. "On it, sir!"

* * *

Two hours later, the Batmobile finally rolled back home, and Batman ignored Alfred standing with his tray of food and immediately pointed to the operating table and said to Nightwing: "Sit. Now."

"What?" said Nightwing. "I didn't come all the way from Bludhaven for medical attention, Bruce. I can take care of my own boo-boos -"

"Shut up," snarled Batman, losing patience. "And _sit down._"

Nightwing shrugged but complied. "Whatever makes you happy." The sarcasm was not lost on Batman.

"Master Dick," said Alfred with delight, finally having an opportunity to speak. "An unexpected pleasure to see you."

"How are you, Alfred?" said Nightwing fondly, wincing as Batman took a sample of blood from his arm. "I hope Bruce isn't giving you too much trouble."

"He does, of course, but he pays me obscenely for it, so perhaps I shouldn't complain," replied Alfred.

Nightwing waggled his finger. "Money doesn't equal happiness, Alfred. Don't let Bruce's obvious enjoyment of life fool you."

Batman rolled his eyes at their banter, a spectacle that could not be seen due to his cowl. The result from the blood scan beeped on the screen, and Batman felt himself relax when he saw that no trace of the toxin was left in Dick's bloodstream.

Perhaps he was overreacting, but... After Tim, he decided there were no overreactions. Not when it came to _their_ safety. Also the reason that he had forced Batgirl to give up her cowl.

"Are you done playing Mother Goose?" Nightwing asked him grumpily.

"Yes," replied Batman shortly as he pulled his cowl off. "You're clear."

"Good to know," Dick said in a sarcastic tone. He hopped off the table and squinted at something in the darkness. "_What_ is _that_?" He picked up the magazine left on the table and read the headline. "'Superman Ditches His Reporter for Wonder Woman'?"

Bruce had already seen the magazine, two weeks ago when it had came out. The picture was from the night of the League gala and showed Clark tucking hair behind Diana's ear while she smiled at him. They stood quite close to each other. Initially (if he wasn't lying to himself) a bout of jealousy had occupied him, until he had taken the time to logically think it through and analyze. Kent was much too far gone for Lois Lane to probably even realize Diana was a woman, and Diana... well... It amused him to no end because both looked supremely awkward, which the gossip magazine had interpreted to be sexual tension.

"Ah yes," said Alfred in amused tones. "The _princess_."

Bruce groaned and ran a gloved hand over his face, realizing too late that his glove was covered in blood. "Don't start."

"Against all odds, she sees the good in you," continued Alfred. "I don't understand why you resist, sir."

"You know why," Bruce said, gritting his teeth.

Nightwing's head had been whipping between the two of them as they spoke. "Wait, what?"

"No," Bruce sighed at the same time Alfred said in a voice that was not a monotone (which really meant he was excited), "Master Bruce has a lady suitor."

Nightwing looked down at the magazine. "Wait, _Wonder Woman_?"

"And Alfred hasn't been able to shut up about his little theory for the past month," Bruce added, falling into his chair.

"It's not a theory, sir," Alfred argued. "I saw the way she talked about you. She's quite besotted."

"'Ten Reasons Why They Belong Together,'" Nightwing continued to read from the article. "'One: Their costumes match.' Oh god, I can't read this." He flung it to the side and looked between Alfred and Batman in disbelief. "Is it true? You like her, don't you?"

Bruce looked up at the ceiling. "Most people _like_ Wonder Woman."

"Okay, but do you _like like_ her?" Nightwing pressed.

Bruce glanced at him sharply. "How old are you again?"

Nightwing looked to be in awe. "It's true!" His tone was gleeful. "I thought your main criterion for girlfriend was 'pseudo-criminal', but apparently not this time. Wow. And she likes you _back_? Now _that_ is a Wonder."

Bruce urge to punch Nightwing in the face increased tenfold but he controlled it.

"Well, I'm not gonna let you mess this up for yourself. You should go ask her out next time you're on the Watchtower," Nightwing decided.

"That's not even possible," Bruce snapped.

"Well, why not?"

"Master Bruce... left the Justice League by mutual agreement," Alfred said delicately. Nightwing's eyes bugged out when Alfred explained. Then he turned back to the Bruce, who had dropped his face into his hands. Alfred placed the tray of coffee on the table and left the cave.

"Well, you're an idiot, Bruce, but _that's_ not news," said Nightwing after a while of silence. "Anyway, apparently Wonder Woman will still have you for some reason, so you can't let this chance pass-"

"Dick," growled Bruce, his voice shifting to the Bat. "Let. It. Go."

His protege was not disturbed. "Fine. I'll drop it on one condition. We have to go see Tim. Today. Now."

Batman stiffened and he closed his eyes. He wasn't ready. Not yet. Maybe not ever. "No." His tone was firm.

"All right. So I'm thinking you should change the colour scheme of your costume to match Wonder Woman's, you know, to show her you care-"

"Shut. Up."

"Then let's go see Tim."

"Master Bruce," called Alfred distantly, "A guest here to see you."

Before Bruce could ask who, a new voice came from the top of the stairs, one that would forever make Bruce's heart beat faster. "Bruce?"

Diana.

He hadn't seen her in a month. Since_ it_ happened. And also when he realized that he loved her.

How could he look her in the eye, knowing that, and still reject her for the greater good? He wished she would stay away.

His head finally lifted from his hands; subconsciously, he pushed his sweaty hair back from his face as her footsteps neared. Nightwing grinned at the sight and mouthed "whipped" at him.

Bruce would have liked to demonstrate a certain hand gesture at his protege, but at that moment Diana finally walked in his line of sight.

Every time he looked at her, he was reminded of how gorgeous she was. It hit him again, full force like a train, when she stood across from his chair. She studied him with her expressive ocean-blue eyes.

And then she smiled.

He _lived_ for that smile some days. He was only realizing it now, but back when he'd been in the League, her smile had been enough to lift his spirits even when he was at his gloomiest. It made him _hope_.

"Bruce," she said finally. He didn't say anything, just stared at her because he couldn't think of a damn thing to say. After a moment, she turned to Nightwing and bestowed her warm smile upon him. "I'm Diana. You must be Bruce's eldest."

Dick looked a little startled at the implication of the word 'son', a term the Batclan had never thrown around very much. But as Bruce knew, things were a lot more black and white that way for Diana, who had grown up on in a very family-oriented environment. He had raised them, therefore they were his sons to her.

After Dick's initial hesitation, he just shook his head at her boldness and grinned. "Sure am."

Bruce felt his eyebrows raise and with it, inexplicably, his spirits. He had never thought that Dick would think of himself as his 'son'. It wasn't like he called Bruce 'Dad'.

Bruce took a moment to shudder at the thought.

Diana got right down to business. "What's this I hear about Tim?" Bruce couldn't help it, he flinched.

"He doesn't want to go visit," Nightwing complained like a petulant child. "I think he's afraid or something." Diana glared at Bruce. He glared back. Nightwing seemed to take this as a cue. "Well, I'm gonna hit the showers," he said excessively loudly, and walked out.

"Bruce," said Diana softly when they were alone in the cave. She drew closer. Batman was forcibly reminded of the similar position they'd been in a month ago.

"How was the League mission?" asked Bruce curtly, wanting to talk about anything _but_ what she wanted.

"That can wait," she said dismissively. "Bruce, Robin- Tim- is all alone, after everything he's been through?"

Bruce sighed. She was so stubborn. Like him. "Diana, I can't. I went once and it was... horrible. Tim will hate me, I'm sure of it. I _ruined his life_."

Diana leaned over him, putting her hands on the armrests, and got right in his face. Bruce was painfully aware of the inches between their mouths. "Bruce, stop with this self pity," she demanded angrily. "Tim is hurting. You have to be there for him. He will heal and be stronger than ever if you just get over this guilt of yours and help him through it."

"I can't let go of my guilt," Bruce said, glaring at her as he rubbed his temples.

"Then don't," she snapped. "_Don't_ realize that none of this is your fault. Go ahead and believe that you made the Joker kidnap Robin. Go ahead and believe this was preventable. You're wrong. But it doesn't matter." She straightened, but her glare didn't let up. "That boy needs his father. And that's _you_." Her gaze softened now. "He won't hate you, Bruce. I know that he loves you."

Bruce found himself ensnared in her bottomless blue eyes. Subconsciously he lowered his hands from his head. "How?" he half-whispered.

She reached forward and slowly, agonizingly, stroked his cheek. "Because once a person _truly_ understands why you do the things you do, it's impossible not to."

* * *

Half an hour later, Bruce found himself in the back of the car with Diana, on the way to Leslie's clinic in the early hours of the morning. He was honestly unable to keep a cool facade. She watched silently as he ran his hands through his hair and yanked at his tie frequently. His agitation was not helped by the fact that he was in a very enclosed, private space with Diana. He cursed Nightwing for purposely taking his bike instead of riding with them.

"Stop," Diana said finally, and she reached towards him. He suddenly went very still, not looking her in the eye but keenly aware of her movements. She simply readjusted his tie. Her hands were too close to the bare skin of his throat.

Then he felt her hand there, actually on his throat, and nearly jumped. When had he become so skittish? He had to get a grip. He schooled his features once again and met her gaze head on.

"What happened?" she asked, gently prodding his neck with her long fingers. Bruce had no idea what she was talking about.

"There are bruises all over your neck," she explained when he didn't reply.

"Oh," said Bruce. He felt a small, grim smile pull over his face. "I got in a fight."

He felt her fingers brushing his skin for one more moment before pulling away. Exhaling, he finally relaxed and tugged on his overcoat to cover up the brunt of the bruises on his neck. She watched him do this with half-lidded eyes.

"You look tired," she noted. "When's the last time you slept?"

Bruce shrugged but said nothing. Ever since Tim had been rescued, visions of the horrible place they'd found him in plagued his nightmares. He tried to sleep, he really did; he knew he needed it, especially after the extremely stressful few months he'd had. But he couldn't bear to see Tim's haunted laughing face in his dreams one more time.

There was no more talking for a while. Bruce looked out the window and tried to ignore his intense awareness of her body heat radiating a foot away from him.

_Say_ _something_, _idiot_, said that tinny little piece of heart left in his chest.

"So, how was the mission?" asked Bruce. He cursed himself inwardly for sounding so cheesy. Damn it, he was Bruce Wayne! He was supposed to be suave!

In the window's reflection, he saw her shift. "It was rough. A Civil War on another planet. We were there for the whole month trying to get both sides to talk."

Bruce was a little surprised. The first thing she'd done since returning was to check on _him_? She really cared too much.

It was simultaneously the worst and best thing to happen to him.

The car slowed to a stop before he could brood on it longer. They were here. He was going to see Tim.

Alfred opened the door and Bruce got out. Force of habit caused him to offer his hand to Diana to help her out. She looked at it for a moment, frowning; Bruce was just about to withdraw it, fearing bodily harm from the Amazon, when she reached forward and took it. The weight of her hand in his was startlingly welcome to him. When she got out of the car, Bruce didn't want to give up her hand. Her eyes were narrowed, almost daring him to keep holding on.

He let go after a few heartbeats.

She exhaled a sigh and walked a few steps away from him. He felt that familiar sense of bitter regret come over him, but what could he do?

"It appears that Master Dick has already arrived," Alfred noted as he closed the car's door; his motorbike was parked nearby. A pause, then: "Have a good visit, sir."

Bruce felt rooted to the spot as he looked up at the clinic building. It wasn't an imposing place by itself, even in the semi-darkness of the early morning. It could be said that the private clinic was an unassuming place.

It was what was behind those walls that terrified Bruce. The possibilities. The unknown of Tim.

He was frozen and unable to move, and might have remained like that for much longer if Diana's hand did not find his again.

He looked down at her hand intertwining with his, and then up into her steady, beautiful gaze. The comfort he got from her touch, from the way she looked at him, was immeasurable. It soothed the raging river inside him.

And her eyes, ever so gentle, so compassionate, seemed to say: _You can do it_.

The unspoken words hung between them, in the shared gaze, until Bruce finally broke it and stepped forward.

His hand tightened around Diana's as they walked towards the entrance.

**A/N: Yay a longer chapter! I dunno if you all can tell, but I was in less of a macabre mood when writing this. :P Anyway I'd love to hear your thoughts!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: ... obviously, things are diverging from the Return of the Joker movie. Just an FYI. :) R & R!**

**DIANA POV**

Diana watched, pulling the tan trenchcoat she wore over her uniform more tightly around her, as Bruce stared through the observation window at the object of all his worries for the past two months. It was a clean, white-walled room, with a bed and dresser in the corner and a TV to the side. A bookshelf was across from the bed, filled with magazines and other reading material.

Tim sat on the edge of the bed staring blankly into his hands. Bruce and Diana (and Dick, who sat off in a corner) studied his profile intensely. Physically, he seemed almost the same as before. The plastic surgeon Bruce had had flown in was, according to the elderly woman introduced as Leslie Thompkins, was one of the best in the world, and the small crew of staff watching over Tim had been paid an obscene amount of money for discretion. Looking at Tim, you might never guess that he'd been tortured to insanity by a raging psychopath.

But you might, because his eyes gave it away.

"I'm glad you came back, Bruce," said Leslie at their side briskly. "Tim is doing remarkably well and progressing faster than we ever would have thought- no thanks to you-" she shot him a considerably nasty look that was contradictory to her otherwise kindly face- "And now that you're here to support him, he should be healing even more."

Bruce didn't look convinced; his hands balled into fists. Diana put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and his lean body instantly relaxed. Nightwing seemed to notice, quietly muttering "Whoa."

Diana understood why Bruce was having a problem doing this. He was afraid that Tim would blame him for something he already blamed himself for. And because he had so much guilt weighed upon him, just looking at Tim made him feel worse.

Leslie huffed. "Honestly, Bruce, I didn't get up at four in the morning so you could stand there having philosophical arguments with yourself." Diana was surprised; obviously this woman knew him quite well to speak to him so frankly.

Everyone in the hallway looked expectantly at Bruce to make the first move. Diana resisted the instinct to comfort and didn't try to persuade him now. He needed to make that decision for himself, and Diana did not want to be his crutch.

Bruce closed his long-lashed eyes momentarily, and then, without looking at anyone, strode briskly to the door of the room. He pressed a button on the keypad and an opaque covering fell over the inside of the observation window. Without pause, without hesitation, he flung the door open and strode inside.

"How did he know that button- oh, never mind," sighed Leslie.

A silence fell where Diana just studied Dick's profile. Finally she spoke. "How long has Tim been with Bruce?"

Dick shrugged, still looking at the door his mentor had gone through. "A few years. Bruce picked him up off the streets, but I don't know exactly how. I was in Bludhaven at the time."

The question Diana had been suppressing ever since Alfred had talked about it fell through her lips. "Why did _you_ leave Bruce?" She hadn't meant to put in the slightly accusatory note in her voice.

Dick heard it and sent her a sharp look. Just like his foster father, he wasn't intimidated by metas. "I didn't like the way he was doing things," he said vaguely.

Her curiosity peaked. Batman's methods might be a little in the gray area, but she had never thought he had crossed the line. "What do you mean?"

Dick's features had hardened. "He's become a lot colder over the years. More manipulative. I left because it seemed to me like his mission to save humanity was causing him to lose his own." He spat out the last words, but then his face softened as if remembering something. "That maybe comes across as a little harsh. Don't get me wrong- he's a good guy. Mostly." Diana silently agreed with that. "But there was too much tension between us to really keep working. We needed distance to hold us together." He laughed a little, the sound bittersweet. "That doesn't make any sense, does it?"

"Actually," said Diana, "It does."

The conversation seemed to peter out at that point, and Diana and Dick strained to hear something, anything from the room that would let them know that everything was all right. But she couldn't make out a word.

Diana sighed and pressed a hand against the cool observation glass, half-wishing she could see past it. "Doesn't Bruce know this isn't his fault?" It would make everything so much easier for that stubborn man.

Dick shrugged. "Eh. You know Bruce. He'd rather have all the bones in his arm broken than see someone else get so much as a paper cut in his line of duty."

At these words, the fleeting image of being pushed out of the way of an incoming runaway bus ran through her head, and felt her heart once again swell with adoration for this man. But this tender feeling was tinged with bitterness knowing that she would never get to have him the way she wanted. Maybe she had lied-sort of- when she said she accepted that. She _wished_ she could accept that, but it was difficult to do when he kept going and doing things that made her fall in love with him all over again.

Who would have known, before she left Themyscira, that a _man_ could be so courageous, so selfless, so caring?

**BRUCE POV**

Bruce wasn't sure about the correctness of Leslie's statement. Sure, Tim looked fine on the outside. But as he knew only too well, trauma like this left mental scarring that would flash behind a person's eyes for years, and be relived in nightmares for years after that.

Tim didn't look up. He just kept staring into his hands. Bruce just looked for a moment at the messy shock of hair that hid the boy's face, and wondered how to approach this conversation.

If things were a little different, he might still be outside with Diana and Dick and Leslie, but some part of him had made the instinctual decision to throw caution to the wind. Hell, even if the kid hated him it couldn't possibly be more than how much he hated himself. Might as well find out. So he had taken the plunge.

"Tim," he said, and his voice was softer than he had intended.

His surrogate son finally looked up; his hollow eyes finally registered something. "Bruce?" he asked slowly, as if he might be an apparition. The boy sat up straighter, examined his face. Bruce let him.

Just when he was beginning to wonder whether Tim would ever say anything, he spoke again: "You _came_." And those words were full of such disbelief that Bruce's heart broke all over again. How could he have stayed away? God, he was truly heartless.

"Yes," he managed to choke out. The next words he uttered were even more difficult to say. "I'm so sorry..."

Tim stood, but his expression was hard to read. "I've been here... so long... and you didn't visit once."

Bruce didn't correct him. At some point during their short conversation he had sunk to his knees and not noticed. "I'm sorry," he repeated emptily. Unspoken words hung heavily in the air. Bruce wished he was the kind of man that could say more. But he couldn't. He couldn't even articulate what he was feeling right now. "You... must hate me."

From his position several feet away, Tim didn't answer, didn't respond in any way, for several agonizingly long seconds. Bruce's head was bowed when he heard him say, so very softly, "I could never hate you, Bruce."

His words sent Bruce back to a month ago, when the Joker had him held by the neck and ordered Tim to shoot him.

And, of course, Tim hadn't.

Before Bruce knew it, Tim was in his arms in a tight hug. Bruce's eyes felt rather wet as sweet relief flooded through his veins and he said, "You should."

"Why? Because you didn't visit?" asked Tim quietly, his voice muffled slightly from where his head was buried in Bruce's shoulder.

Bruce pulled back slightly too look at his young charge. Tim's eyes also seemed to glisten an abnormal amount considering the lighting. Bruce's mouth worked, and he wondered whether opening up was the right thing.

It had to be, if he wanted Tim to be all right, he realized.

"It was my fault," he admitted. "If I hadn't been so wrapped up in the League I wouldn't have abandoned Gotham." _Abandoned_ _you_. "I wasn't there. I should have been." He shook his head. "It should have happened to me."

Some of Tim's old spark flared. "It shouldn't have happened to anyone," he snapped, and then his strength faltered again, and the boy put his head back in his hands. "_No_ _one_ deserves that..." His voice shuddered.

Watching him, Bruce thought to himself, that he would rather have died than see Tim this way. See _anyone_ he cared about this way.

But there was nothing he could do about that now. The only thing he could do now was be there for Tim. His arms tightened around the boy. And he swore to himself, that he was going to do everything in his power to restore Tim to the light, happy, carefree teen that had once been. He didn't care what he had to do to accomplish it.

"So-" Bruce cleared his throat a bit. "How are they treating you here?"

Tim shrugged. "It's not home, but it's okay. Leslie's great."

"That she is," Bruce agreed. The conversation wasn't an easy thing; it was tentative. Fragile. Neither was all that great at expressing their feelings.

He sat with Tim for a long time, just sitting on the floor not saying a word. Bruce liked to think that Tim got some sort of support from what meager sense of emotion Bruce had to offer him.

The door creaked open and a doctor poked his head in at the same time the privacy screen went back up. "Time for meds, Mr. Drake," he said, clearing his throat. The interruption broke the spell between them, and Bruce suddenly felt self-conscious.

Bruce stood up. "I'll come by again." He stuffed his hands in his pockets, now feeling quite awkward.

Tim sat back on his bed, and his poker face wavered. "Will you?"

"Promise, soon," Bruce said firmly. Inspiration seized him. "Tomorrow."

Tim's face relaxed, and he seemed to accept Bruce's word as fact. "All right."

And with that, Bruce turned on the heel and left the room. Diana was waiting at the door, hands clasped in front of her and smiling; tentatively, but brightly. She didn't say a word. Bruce felt his own poker face slide back on, and he nodded at her, like _Let's go_.

Just as they were, Bruce heard a blood-chilling sound from the room he had just left.

Laughter.

He whipped around, and saw Tim shaking on the bed, looking like he was fighting the bouts of sinister laughter that poured uncontrollably from inside. The doctor held him by the shoulders, trying to steady him.

Leslie was hasty to explain. "It still happens sometimes. When he's under a lot of strain or mentally exhausted. It doesn't mean anything." Bruce felt the elderly woman's hand on his arm but didn't feel comforted.

Diana was a step ahead of him. "That doesn't mean _you_ put him under that strain, Bruce. He was just trying to be strong for you; he put that strain on himself."

As if in a trance, Bruce pushed past them urgently. Dick followed him inside.

"Tim," said Dick, "Tim. It's me. It's okay, Tim!" While Bruce hung back, now hesitant, Dick pushed the doctor into the doorway unceremoniously and crouched in front of Tim.

"Hahahanohahahahacan'tstophahaha," Tim giggled, his eyes unseeing.. "I'msorryhehehe..."

Bruce was unable to speak and rooted to the spot. He felt like he was reliving it, all over again. For some reason, Joker's "Kiss the Cook" apron flashed through his mind, and he shuddered on the spot. It was enough seeing it in his nightmares but...

"That's okay, Tim," said Dick soothingly, "Just relax... Wonder Woman? What are you doing?"

Bruce saw Diana enter his line of sight, apparently having entered the room. She held her lasso in her hands gingerly. It was glowing.

"I don't know," she said a little bit uncertainly. "It just started glowing when I was thinking about Tim... I wonder..." And without warning, she looped it around Tim.

"Get that off him!" Bruce snapped, coming to life.

"Quit being so overprotective, Bruce," Dick shot back as he blocked his mentor's path. "Let her try."

The lasso glowed brighter, and Tim's laughter suddenly died away. His rigid, tense posture slumped, his eyes closed, and the hysterical grin faded into the first real smile Bruce had seen on his face since the event. It was a small smile, barely there, but... at peace. And then Tim fell sideways onto the bed, apparently asleep.

Dick gaped. "_What_ did you _do_?"

Diana opened her mouth to speak but Bruce cut her off in awe. "Her lasso has some sort of healing or relaxing power." He looked at her sharply. "Why didn't you ever say?"

She looked back at him, looking a little annoyed at his tone. "I didn't know," she replied. She stared down at her lasso as she unwrapped it from Tim slowly. "Mother said that I would find out my armor's other powers in due time... I guess this is just another one."

"But that's so cool!" Dick exclaimed, his dark eyes sparkling with excitement. "Maybe you could heal Tim all the way!" He gave a sidelong glance to Bruce. "Maybe you could relax Bruce so he wouldn't be so emotionally constipated all the time!"

Bruce glared at his eldest ward. "You really live up to your name, you know that?"

His ward looked innocent as a puppy. "What, Richard? That doesn't make any sense, Bruce."

Diana, meanwhile, was looking at her lasso like it was the first time she'd seen it. "But it's never happened before," she said uncertainly. "I think its... healing powers, if that's what they are... might be limited. A short term solution, if you will."

Bruce privately agreed with her logical assessment. Dick, however, looked severely disappointed. "Oh well. If you find out differently, ring me up in Bludhaven so we can try it on Bruce."

Bruce did not like the amount of sass in Dick's tone and let him know with another piercing glare.

After a few moments of them all watching Tim's peaceful sleeping, Dick suggested they leave and return another time, and so they did. Before Bruce could walk out, Leslie grabbed him by the arm and said with a smile, "Thank you for coming, Bruce."

Bruce felt his own genuine smile, the first in- months, it felt like- stretch over his face. It felt a bit uncomfortable, like his mouth hadn't contorted that way in a long time. "Thank _you_, Leslie."

* * *

Unbeknownst to everyone, a tiny microchip, crumbled to dust, lay on Tim's pillow with him. It had been destroyed by the lasso.

For it had been the greatest lie of all.


	21. Chapter 21

**BRUCE POV**

Alfred watched them come from where he was standing outside the car. "And how was the visit, sir?" he asked primly, but Bruce could detect the slightest note of relief in his butler's eyes.

"Fine," he replied. Before he could say anything more, Diana spoke.

"Well," she said, "I'm glad to have come with you- I'm sorry if I was intruding on a family moment-" Dick vigorously shook his head- "I suppose I'll go now." Her voice was slightly tentative.

Bruce understood what she was doing- she was backing off. Respecting his space.

Accepting that he couldn't, wouldn't love her. For far more reasons than he had once given.

"Why don't you come have breakfast with us," suggested Dick innocently, tucking his bike helmet under his arm.

Bruce shot his ward a glare, which was promptly ignored.

Diana seemed hesitant; her eyes darted to Bruce and back. "I don't know..."

"_I'm_ inviting you," Dick said firmly. Bruce inwardly sighed at the transparent tactic Dick was using; pretending Diana was coming to have breakfast with him, not Bruce. "And besides, if there's one thing I miss about living in the manor, it's Alfred's croissants."

Diana caught on and smiled hugely. She turned to look at Bruce, and he found that he just could not deny that beautiful face. He said nothing but maintained his poker face.

Correctly, Dick assumed that meant everything was fine. The young man jammed his helmet on his head, obscuring his black hair and beaming features. "Let's roll."

"Well said, Master Dick," said Alfred in his usual wry tone.

* * *

**DIANA POV**

The manor's kitchen was an expansive space, complete with gleaming countertops, silvery appliances and polished floors. But what really made the kitchen such a wonderful place in Diana's mind was the delicious aroma of baking that wafted through the house as soon as she walked in.

She took a seat quietly at the counter and simply watched the action around her; Dick grabbing a muffin from a box with one hand and rooting through the fridge with the other. Alfred tying an apron around his waist and admonishing Bruce for bringing "his dirty shoes into the kitchen, take those abominations off immediately". She giggled to herself. She'd never seen Bruce look so sheepish before. Not even when she'd kissed him on the cheek in Gorilla City.

She was drinking this all in as fast as she could, trying to commit every detail of the scene to memory. She had known the Batman for so many years, but in those years only saw the smallest of glimpses into what was his other life. It was rather a strange sight to see, these two feared and respected crime fighters acting almost- dare she think it?- like children around the old butler. He was good for them, she thought to herself. Alfred made sure to give them the normality everyone needs in their lives.

"Your Highness?"

She snapped out of it and looked at Alfred. His keen eyes were sparkling, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. "What would you like for breakfast?" he asked formally, clasping his hands in front of him.

"Whatever is convenient for you to serve," Diana replied warmly. Her affection for Bruce's most trusted confidante was growing. Here was the man that had raised the Batman, who, after all his trauma, had still ended up being a fairly good man. It spoke volumes about the butler's character. "And please, call me Diana."

In the background, Dick snorted as he drank his orange juice straight from the jug. Alfred, meanwhile, looked scandalized. "First names are only to be used for residents of the household. I couldn't possibly address an esteemed guest such as yourself so informally, Your Highness."

Diana thought of the way Alfred called Kal "Mister Kent". "I don't like to be called 'Your Highness', to be honest." She felt a smile curve over her lips. "Please, why don't you call me... Miss Prince."

Dick spoke up, his voice sounding tentative. "Your last name is Prince?"

"No," she replied. "It's just what they write on all my legal documents."

"Miss Prince," Alfred tested out, and gave her a small smile of his own. "I quite like it."

"Don't _youuu_, Bruce?" Dick drawled out. Diana hid another grin. She found it so... _cute_ that Dick was teasing his father. Just like a regular family.

Bruce, meanwhile, had been eyeing Dick's orange juice antics for a while now with some distaste. Without answering the question, he said, "Dick, that is disgusting."

"For once, I must agree with Master Bruce," Alfred sniffed. "It is unsightly and rude behavior."

Dick looked slightly ashamed of himself at Alfred's words. "There wasn't much left in the carton anyway," he argued half-heartedly. "We have more in the fridge anyway. Would you like some... Diana?"

She smiled encouragingly. "No, thank you."

Diana didn't miss Bruce smirking slightly at his son. His gaze turned to Diana, and damn her to Tartarus if those pale blue eyes, made soft in the early daylight, didn't make her stomach flip like a schoolgirl. "Croissant?" he offered, one held out in his hand.

She took it, and their fingers brushed momentarily. His skin was remarkably soft but betrayed a toughness beneath the surface. Like steel covered in silk.

He took care not to look into her eyes too long, and returned his attention to his plate, where a few sorry slices of honeydew lay unattended.

Alfred followed her gaze. "He eats like a rabbit some times, Miss Prince. I don't even recall the last time he ate one of my dishes served warm from the oven."

"Now _that_ is a tragedy," said Dick. Diana nodded gravely in agreement. From her peripheral vision she thought she saw the corner of Bruce's mouth tick upwards.

"Well," Dick continued after a while as he pushed off the counter where he'd been standing, "I'm going to go visit Babs-" Bruce's back visibly stiffened- "and hopefully get her to cool her jets. Then it'll be _your_ move, old man."

"Out of the question," Bruce said darkly.

Dick was not deterred; one inky eyebrow was raised up. "We'll see. Nice to meet you, Diana," he said courteously. "See you later, Alfred."

"If you don't mind, I will walk you to the door," Alfred said, putting down the steaming tray of coffee he'd been holding.

Their voices faded away as they left the kitchen. Dick saying, "That's really not necessary," and Alfred cutting in, "Nonsense, Master Dick..."

Leaving her alone with Bruce. She was starting to get the distinct feeling that Alfred was leaving them alone on purpose.

She pressed the advantage. "Eat," she commanded him, in the same voice she would use to lead a group of warriors in attack.

He just looked at her, and his eyes seemed to darken slightly. He was sitting on the next side of the rectangular table so that there was a corner between them. But not much else.

"My mother," Diana continued as if the tension radiating from his body was nonexistent, "told me that when I was a child, I was quite a picky eater." Feeling suddenly daring, she reached forward and picked up a slice of honeydew from his plate, and felt a mischievous smile tug at her lips. "She fed me and made it like a story. She pretended the food was a carriage, and my mouth was like the tunnel that it had to go through in order to continue the story."

The hard line of his mouth softened, and that was all Diana needed as encouragement. She grinned at him. "Look, it's the Batmobile," she teased, and brought the piece of fruit closer to his mouth. He did not move away. "It's speeding much too fast." She bumped the honeydew against his closed, perfectly shaped lips, wetting them. He was definitely smiling a little bit now. She frowned playfully. "Your car hit a wall. You damaged your car, Bruce! If it hits again you'll have to bring it in for repairs, and _then_ how will Batman get around?" She made another go with the fruit.

She was delighted when he finally opened his mouth and allowed her to gently place the fruit in his mouth. Her fingers brushed his lips, and without meaning to, she let them linger; enjoying the warmth of his breath on her skin.

Out of nowhere, he very softly kissed her fingers. So softly, she wasn't sure it could classify as kiss. His lips merely brushed her skin like a butterfly's wings. She looked up, completely startled by the action.

His eyes were tender with something Diana did not dare to name as he looked at her. His voice was quiet. "_My_ mother did the same thing." His face changed suddenly, as if only now seeing what he'd done.

Diana only realized how close their faces had become when he pushed away from her, his chair scraping against the tiles. When he spoke, his tone was professional. He didn't quite look at her, opting instead to focus on the cupboard above her head. "I have work to do, Diana," he said stiffly, and turned to leave the kitchen. At the doorway, he paused; and although he didn't turn around, she heard his voice become softer. "It- it was nice seeing you." He walked away, into the darker corners of the house, she was certain.

She sat back in her chair, trying to ignore her tingling fingers, and sighed. It had actually gone better than she expected. There was really no telling when the man would open up; he was full of surprises.

**A/N: Oh Diana, for such a fierce warrior you're such a cutie sometimes!**

**A few people were confused about the last line from the last chapter. I guess I was trying to say that even though everybody thought the Joker was gone, that wasn't correct- THAT was the lie. The Joker's death was a lie, because he still lived on in that microchip. And the lasso saw that, and, like all lies, decimated it. (or you could see it as healing Tim rather than destroying the lie. Really, I was just trying to be poetic. which clearly didn't work out... lol.) As always, reviews are very much appreciated!**


	22. Chapter 22

**DIANA POV**

She finished her croissant just as Alfred came back into the kitchen. He paused, noting that Diana was the only one there. "Master Bruce has left?" She nodded. "How utterly rude of him."

She smiled a little at that. "I understand. He's a busy man."

Alfred made a discontented sound. "You are, from what I hear, a busy woman, yet you still take the time to pursue other things." He sighed, pulled a cloth out of a drawer and began vigorously rubbing at the already clean countertop. "Such is the way of Master Bruce, to work himself into the ground and then further."

Those words had the unintended affect of making Diana remember how Bruce had been buried alive. She shuddered inwardly at just the thought.

"Well, I should probably go," she said, "Thank you for the breakfast, Alfred. It was very kind of you."

He stopped wiping the countertop and looked up at her, ever the dignified butler of the house. "But of course, Miss Prince. Please," he held out the basket of croissants, "take some to go. I understand that the food aboard the Watchtower is sometimes... lacking." The older man's mouth twitched.

Diana grinned and obliged, taking two of the croissants. Oh Bruce. "If _I_ was living under your roof, I would probably find myself becoming a picky eater as well."

"Nonsense," scoffed Alfred, but nonetheless looking rather pleased. He escorted Diana to the door, insisting that she visit again, to which Diana half-heartedly 'hmm'ed.

Then she transported back to the Watchtower. Walking through the halls was always quite a social affair, because she was one of the more... welcoming Founders. Many people seemed to enjoy her company. That wasn't to say that nobody was scared of her, because she could certainly make an impression if things got out of hand.

"M-morning, Wonder Woman!"

"Up early, eh, Diana?"

"Di! Haven't seen you in a while!"

"How was the mission, Wonder Woman?"

Diana greeted all of them warmly on her way to the cafeteria. She headed straight for the iced mocha machine. It was only eight in the morning, and she was planning on getting ahead on her mission report now rather than later. She hadn't slept. But she was far too awake from her encounter with Bruce to do any resting just now.

"Hello," she greeted the woman behind the counter at the cafeteria, and pressed the on button for the machine.

"Hi," the chipper woman replied back. "You do love those iced mochas, eh?"

Diana grinned. "I imagine a lot of people do if the cafeteria went and got a machine that made them specifically." She watched her drink fill up.

The woman frowned. "Actually... no. It was just _here_ one day when we came to work, I remember. You're the only one that uses it regularly. We've had complaints here that the drinks that thing makes are too sweet or too caffeinated. Other people get their iced mochas made by _us_."

Diana felt her brow furrow. "Really? These are absolutely _perfect_ for me..." Her voice died away and some inkling of realization dawned.

As the serving woman turned away to greet Vigilante for breakfast, Diana set down her cup and began to examine the machine, her fingers gliding over the cool metal of it. She didn't know what she was expecting to find.

He never left evidence at the scene.

She wasn't sure why she thought it was him that had got it. It could have been anyone that noticed exactly how Wonder Woman liked her iced mochas. Except that it fit _his_ personality perfectly to never mention it.

Diana shook her head, a small grin forming on her lips. He could be arrogant, stubborn, manipulative and bullying at times, but there was no denying, to her at least, that the man did _care_ for his fellow person. He didn't want a soul to know that, as it would damage his reputation. So he went and did sweet things like this, never expecting or even wanting to be acknowledged for his acts of kindness. She ran a hand over the machine again. She had been using it for a few years without ever knowing the story behind it.

A voice spoke behind her, standing out in the hubbub of the cafeteria.

"Good people," said J'onn quietly, "are like candles; they burn themselves up to give others light."

Diana turned around, the silly grin still on her face. She found she was unable and also unwilling to wipe it off. "Where'd you hear that one, J'onn?"

"It's a Turkish proverb that I heard in my travels," J'onn said gravely. Diana sipped her drink (perfect as usual) and waited. She knew that J'onn had heard her thoughts, and found that she didn't mind all that much today.

J'onn gesturing towards a nearby table so they could talk. When they had sat down, he continued. "Did you know, there was always, without fail, a supply of Oreos in the Monitor Room."

Diana was confused by the topic that had been sprung on her seemingly out of the blue. "I thought Batman hated people eating in the Monitor Room."

J'onn smiled a bit. "I think that rule only really extended to messy and sometimes careless eaters like the Flash."

Diana grinned, sipping her drink. "That sounds about right. Why do you bring this up?"

"Because, two weeks ago, I ran out."

Diana couldn't help it. Looking at J'onn's solemn face, she burst out laughing. The few tables around her turned curiously.

"I'm- I'm sorry, J'onn," she said, finally getting her laughter under control. "It's just- you sounded so serious-"

"Understandable," said J'onn. She was rather sure that he didn't understand, but didn't press the issue. Meanwhile, J'onn spoke again, his voice now softer. "You are not the only one to feel Batman's absence in unexpected ways aboard this Tower."

Diana caught on and her grin faded a bit. "Yes," she replied, equally softly. "He does have a way of making his presence known."

J'onn continued. "Green Lantern came to myself and Mr. Terrific seeming very angry about the disorganized case files. Up until Batman left us, perhaps the neatness had been taken for granted."

She looked closely at him, setting down her drink. "Does that mean you've had a change of heart? About... what he did?"

J'onn looked at her solemnly. "I maintain that it was wrong of him," he replied. "But perhaps it was wrong of us to judge him so harshly as we did. Our decisions are not always perfect in that regard, I see that now."

Diana took another sip. "Despite what he would like us all to believe, _he's_ not perfect, either."

"Got _that_ right," said a female voice behind them.

"Zatanna," said Diana warmly, pulling out a chair for the magician. "Have a seat."

"Speaking of Batman," added Zatanna, and plopped down at the table. "You owe me a conversation, Diana."

Ah yes. The night of the League gala, she had promised. But their relationship was so much different, it felt, than it had been a month ago. After the business with the Joker and Tim, Diana felt like she had been introduced more intimately to Bruce's life. Everything between them had changed.

Except the spark. That had only grown stronger.

"Let's go somewhere else. My quarters," Diana suggested.

Perhaps J'onn sensed the impending relationship talk and Diana's need for privacy, because he waved them away. "I'd rather stay and finish my breakfast," he said, and though his tone was as always quite grave, his scarlet eyes held a twinkle.

"So, what happened that made Bruce leave?" Zatanna asked in hushed tones after Diana had shut the door behind them. Her room was quite spacious but a bit minimalistic; a bed at the wall, a dresser, the door to the bathroom and small trunk in the corner that held (and hid from view) some of her prized possessions. Her personal touches were all over; tokens and gifts from friends, photos, other sorts of momentos she'd gathered over the years.

Diana sighed and ran a hand over her face. "It's a long story and I've got work to do."

Zatanna smirked and shifted her chair so that she was fully facing her. "Now you just sound like _him_. Give me the shortened version if you must."

Diana hesitated. She knew that Zatanna had known Bruce far longer than she and wondered how she would take the news. She sighed and said, "We learned the hard way that Bruce is always prepared..."

At the end of the tale, Zatanna's eyes widened. "No."

Diana plunged on, desperate to get to the end of the story. "We had no choice, Zatanna. We were going to vote if he should still be allowed to continued with us. But he left before the decision could be made." Her eyes pleaded with the magician. Zatanna was a good friend and Diana didn't want to lose her because she thought she was being coldhearted.

Zatanna's gaze betrayed nothing for a moment, and then she shook her head. "What an idiot." At Diana's look, she quickly clarified. "Bruce, I mean. I'm going to pay him a visit. Speaking of paying Bruce a visit- what happened the night of the gala? Why didn't he show?"

"It's not my place to tell," Diana said firmly. She had been trusted with one of the many secrets of the Wayne family and she wasn't about to give Bruce a reason _not_ to trust her again.

Zatanna looked slightly crestfallen, but her face quickly turned to that of respect. Then: "People are getting suspicious, you know. That Batman hasn't been seen in any sort of League capacity for months."

Diana shrugged. "He goes in deep cover for his missions sometimes. The rumors can't be that bad yet."

"They are," Zatanna said firmly. "Seriously, Diana. Aztek mentioned Batman's name in passing the other day in a conversation with Superman and he flinched. He _flinched_. That really set the rumors off. They need to be dealt with."

Diana knew that. She also knew with each passing minute that they didn't decide, it became more and more apparent to all the Founders that they had far too much doubt regarding the circumstances of Batman's resignation. Superman was usually a decisive leader, but it was like he couldn't bring himself to announce it to the League. She knew why. It would become official. It would become real.

Batman was no longer part of the League.

In her life aboard the Watchtower and conducting League business, she missed the oddest things about him. The way he swept into a room and commanded attention; his ability to make anyone fall into line; how he always made training interesting; and most of all, those rare occasions when he smiled. She took far too much pride in bringing out his smile.

Although almost certainly unintended on his part, he often brought a moment of amusement to Diana's action-filled and exhausting life defending Earth. His manners needed work; but his principles were a breath of fresh air in a world that sometimes seemed too corrupted to be saved.

And she knew, she just _knew_, that he felt the same way.

"But he doesn't want me to be part of his life," said Diana softly.

Zatanna seemed surprised by the seemingly out-of-the-blue comment. "That's not true and you know it. It's just... all his hang-ups."

"They're justified," Diana said, reluctantly.

Zatanna threw up her hands, grinning. "So? You can get around them."

Diana looked at her friend sharply. She never claimed to be an expert when it came to men- Hera knew they were complete mysteries- but getting around Bruce's shell seemed near impossible at this point. "What do you mean?"

Zatanna's grin widened. "You pretend to be crushing on someone else. I've seen Hawkgirl do it; it drives Lantern absolutely nuts. But he can't do a thing about it, can he?... But I digress. Bruce is definitely the jealous type, it would totally work if you were up to it."

Diana thought of the time she had complimented Wally's red hair the first time she'd seen it, and Bruce's apparent irritation over it. "I don't know. It seems like an underhanded tactic."

Zatanna shrugged and set her hat back on her ebony hair once again. "Just a suggestion. Where did you get that tapestry?" she asked, switching topics.

"You wouldn't believe it," Diana said, grinning, and proceeded to tell the story.

And also, procrastinating on her mission report.

**BRUCE POV**

He hadn't gone to the Batcave right away.

He had left the kitchen before he did something incredibly stupid; for example, kissing that adorable Amazon princess senseless. Then throwing her on the table and...

But no.

Leaving had done him some good, as the distance lessened his physical desire.

But, as he stared up pensively at the large portrait of his parents above the fireplace, he was beginning to realize that nothing would relieve that constant _emotional_ desire to have her. To be close to a woman again, not just in body but also in mind and soul.

He cursed himself inwardly. Hadn't fate proven time and time again that he would only bring harm upon his loved ones?

And, he reminded himself firmly, that wasn't the only reason a relationship between them was doomed to fail. For God's sake, she was _immortal_. He, on the other hand, would grow old if he miraculously didn't die in the field first. And what, would he expect her to sit by his bedside and feed him medications? She would move on, and so he would wither away far before death claimed him. Or worse, if she stayed by his side until the bitter end- she would have to suffer through the pain of her loved one's death.

For eternity.

But he was getting ahead of himself. This was all under the assumption that Diana truly saw all that he was and still accepted it. But Bruce wasn't entirely convinced she understood. She knew Batman, she knew _of_ the Billionaire, and she thought she recognized Bruce somewhere. She didn't realize that Bruce Wayne was an empty shell, merely a host through which Batman could thrive. Bruce Wayne was like a muscle he no longer exercised- nearly nonexistent through lack of use. There was no human left- only the mask.

Once she realized that, it was only a matter of time before she walked away. He didn't know that he could bear such a rejection.

For both their sakes, he should push her away. He had tried. But she had caught him at a time when his defences were weakened. He had made a huge mistake. He had given her an open window into his _other _life.

Some part of him was relieved that she hadn't run away screaming. He couldn't help but recall the honeydew slipping through her fingers into his mouth. The action, while innocent on her part, was far too intimate and he might go as far as to say sexual for him to bear. She was without a doubt one of the fiercest and formidable people he had ever met, yet she had this playful mischievousness that caught him off guard, and, if he was being honest with himself, was something he enjoyed. Too much. It was refreshing to have something like that in his otherwise dark and cynical existence.

He straightened and looked almost beseechingly at his parents' likenesses. "What would you have me do?" he asked softly to the darkness.

Silence was his answer.

Bruce knew he would never get his answer; he would never get that closure that told him that his parents would have approved of him and the way he kept his promise. And that he _wasn't_ a shame to their name and their legacy.

But it still hurt to hear that cold silence. To his overactive imagination it was almost like they were ignoring him.

So he left. Descended into the Batcave.

_Home sweet home_, he thought to himself with a bitter smile, as he tapped some keys on the computer to wake up the monitor.

A news report flashed on the screen. The headline read "Wonder Woman Attacks Civilians". The video showed Diana, her blue eyes flashing murderously, fighting seemingly for her life in the middle of a throng of people.

For a moment, panic made his heart leap, at least until he noted the date in the corner and realized it was just footage from the day Ra's had unleashed Bruce's contingencies.

His mouth tightened. He hadn't put this on. Someone else had. Someone else had wanted him to see her slumped, defeated posture, the way she swayed slightly before the next onslaught, how she was so very nearly at the edge of death.

He didn't realize how still he was standing, looking up at the screen, until he heard Alfred's voice behind him.

"Master Bruce? You didn't finish breakfast, so I took the liberty to bring it to you here."

Alfred's blasé tone didn't fool Bruce. he whipped around, and anger formed his mouth into a slight snarl. "Why, Alfred?" he asked. His hands were clenched into fists. "Why did you leave this here?" He had some idea.

Alfred knew he wasn't talking about the tray of breakfast. Expression calm as ever, he set down a tray of croissants and fruit on the nearby table. Turning to leave, he said offhandedly over his shoulder, "Just reminding you about what's _really_ important in life, sir."

And he left Bruce down there in the darkness, his charge's way guided only by the illumination of Diana's face on the screen.

**A/N: So I have a question for you all, would you all rather read _longer_ chapters that are posted less frequently, or keep it like this (short chapters every few days)? Let me know!**

**EDIT: After a few strongly worded reviews -cough- Guest -cough- I'm also feeling the need to add that a jealous Bruce is something that probably won't even happen in my story. And even if it did, it would be very VERY minor and would have no part in being the catalyst that makes Bruce finally accept her. (I never liked that trope- it makes it seem like the guy only wanted the girl so that no one else would have her. And that ain't what love is about! :P) This has been a PSA. I love reviews! :D**


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